[General] Health and Welfare

[Ashiuhto]

Is the sentence natural English?

The vice president of Ministry of Health and Welfare said, “Sulfur Dioxide (SO[SUB]2[/SUB]) could result in a pant. But the chemical in disposable chopsticks is a little, so it won’t hurt health seriously.”

 

[bhaisahab]

“Sulfur Dioxide (SO[SUB]2[/SUB]) could result in a pant." What does this mean?

 

[Matthew Wai]

This page says that 'People with asthma can experience increased airway resistance with sulfur dioxide ... '.
'Result in a pant' may mean 'cause people to pant'.

Not a teacher.

 

[Ashiuhto]

Thank for Matthew Wai. The sentence means "Sulfur Dioxide could cause people to pant."

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Yes. Pant is a verb. Pants and pant leg are nouns that are about clothing below the waist, not breathing above the collar.

 

[Ashiuhto]

Is the sentence natural?

But the chemical in disposable chopsticks is a little, so it won’t hurt health seriously.

 

[Barb_D]

but the amount of that chemical in disposable chopsticks is so low that it won't pose a serious risk to health.

 

[riquecohen]

Does the Ministry of Health and Welfare actually have a vice-president or is it a Vice-Minister of Health and Welfare?
I would say that sulphur dioxide can cause "respiratory problems."

 

[Ashiuhto]

I revised the sentence as written：

Vice-Minister of Health and Welfare said, “Sulfur dioxide (SO[SUB]2[/SUB]) can cause respiratory problems. But the amount of that chemical in disposable chopsticks is so low that it won't pose a serious risk to health.”

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

We would usually use either Vice Minister or Vice-minister, not Vice-Minister. If you're hyphenating it, only one capital is called for. And you need an article:

"The Vice-minister...."

 

[Barb_D]

Generally in more formal writing you don't start a sentence with a coordinating conjuction like "But."
You can replace the period after "problems" with a comma and continue with "but the..." or you can change it to "problems. However, the ..."

I disagree on the capitalizatoin of Minister if you hyphenate. I suggest you look up how his title is used on offical Web sites and mirror that. Vice Minister or Vice-Minister. It's possible (though I think unlikely) that it would be "Vice-minister" as well.