Chen Jiaohua, chairman of the New Power Party, said Thursday that the National Fire Protection Agency (NFA) should set an end date for the use of non-crystalline silica in fire extinguishers.

Chen said at a press conference held jointly with the Fire Extinguisher Manufacturing and Agent Charging Industry Alliance and the Taiwan Water Conservation Alliance that the agency has not formulated regulations to control the use of substances and verify the safety data sheets submitted by manufacturers.

Liao Weiren, chairman of the fire extinguisher union, said that phasing out the substance will not pose too much challenge to manufacturers, because only 4 of the 15 companies use crystalline silica to produce fire extinguishers.

Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times

Liao urged the agency to formulate regulations prohibiting the use of the substance to protect the health of manufacturers and firefighters.

Liao said that the cost of fire extinguishers using certified fire extinguishing agents is three times that of non-certified fire extinguishing agents, and the phasing out of this substance will improve the cost-effectiveness of fire extinguishers.

NFA official Shen Yizhe stated that the agency sent an official letter to the authorities on October 12, requesting enhanced verification of safety data sheets.

Shen said that the United States, Europe and Japan do not prohibit the use of non-crystalline silica in fire extinguishers, and Taiwan seeks to maintain the same standards as the international community.

Chen said that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certification standards require that fire extinguishing agents must not contain substances that are highly toxic, have long-term effects on aquatic animals, or are included in the global harmonized classification and labeling system of chemicals.

However, she said that some manufacturers did not provide data on the toxicity and ecological impact of their products, adding that the EPA's review procedures were flawed.

Liao said that third-party testing providers may deliberately provide false results.

EPA official Wu Lingzhu said that manufacturers do not need to prove that their products do not contain non-crystalline silica.

However, all tests conducted by the US Environmental Protection Agency on fire extinguishers for the substance showed negative results, Wu said, adding that between June and August, three companies had been inspected.

Chen said that all dry powder fire extinguishers should be inspected, and manufacturers should provide new data to the EPA and the Fire Extinguisher Alliance to verify whether their products meet certification standards.

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