|
 Measures
against Chemieal Pollution Countermeasures to environmental risks of Chemieals
(1)
Environmental problems caused by chemicals
 It
is said that at present, about 100,000 types of chemical substances are
commerced throughout the world, and about 50,000 in Japan. While these chemicals
have become indispensable for our daily life, they may pose serious risks
to human health and ecosystems, depending on how we produce them, use them,
and dispose of them. In recent years, for example, dioxins, endocrine disrupting
chemicals, and multiple chemical sensitivities have become major social
concerns.
Up
to now, cmissions into the environment of toxic chemicals have been regulated,
while their production and use arc limited. Chemicals
that are found to threaten human health or ecosystems are surveyed nationwide
to monitor the concentration in the atmosphere, water, fish, etc.
However,
problems caused by chemical pollution these days seem to be characterized
by (i) their long-term exposure to a wide variety of traces of chemicals
(ii) through several different media, i.e. the air, water, and soil; (iii)
such cxposure may cause many kinds of effects to our health and ecosystems,
and (iv) the mechanisms of such effects are largely still unknown .
What
are endocrine disruptors?
The
term "endocrine disruptors" refers to chemicals that are
absorbed into living organisms from the environment and disrupt the
functions of hormones in their bodies. Such disruption may lead to
feminization, population declines, and physical deformities in wildlife.
Studies and research are currently being carried out around the world
to determine whether endocrine disruptors really influence man and
wildlife or not, and to find ways to identify chemicals that cause
hormone damage. At this stage, there is still no conclusive scientific
proof that these substances are harmful to human health.
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What
are dioxins?
Polychlorinated
dibenzo-p-dioxin (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF) are
generally called dioxins. There are many types of dioxins, differing
in toxicity according to the numbers or positions of chlorine atoms
in molecules. Animal tests have shown that certain dioxins, such as
2, 3, 7, 8- tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), causes cancer or fetal
deformities. |
What
are "environmental risks"?
In
engineering, a "risk" means the undesirable result and its
uncertainty. A risk can be assessed by the "probability of its
occurrence" and "its potential hazard."
"
Environmental risks" are the concept indicating the potential
impediments to environmental protection that may be caused by the
burden of hazardous chemicals on the environment. |
(2)
An integrated approach to reduce environmental risks
To
deal with problems mentioned above, in addition to the existing framework
of regulations on individual substances, the health and ecological threats
of these chemicals should be secn in terms of "environmental risks."
Scientific assessment of these risks should be promoted and efforts to minimize
them are needed.
Promotion of environmental risk assessment
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The
Environment Agency is working to expand the base of vital knowledge
such as the hazard of chcmical pollutants to human health and ecosystems,
concentrations of chemicals in the environment, and intake levels
by human and wildlife. As well as releasing information freely for
public benefit, the agency is conducting environmental risk assessments
using such data. |
New measures for envitonmental risk management
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In
February 1996, the OECD recommended the adoption of a new system for
environmental risk management, a Pollutant Rclease and Transfer Register
(PRTR), which has since attracted a great deal of attention. In a
PRTR system, the administration monitors, calculates and publicizes
data on the amounts of various hazardous chemicals released into the
environment, and transferred in waste, based on reports provided by
business and its own estimation. In Japan, a new law introducing a
PRTR system was promulgated in July 1998. |
(3)
Promotion of "risk communication"
To
facilitate a smooth introduction of the measures against environmental risks,
the Environmental Health Department is providing information to the public
with explanations and technical details in simple terms, through issuing
brochures and organizing seminars. The department is also examining methods
to promote awareness and undcrstanding of environmental risks among citizens,
corporations and government (risk communication).
Prevention
of and Compensation for Pollution-related Health Damages
To
provide a fair and quick rcdress for people suffering from health problems
caused by environmental pollution, the Pollution-related Health Damage Compensation
Law (Compensation Law for short) has taken effect in Japan. The Compensation
Law is based on civil responsibility, so that the party that causes pollution
is responsible for paying compcnsation to parties suffering from the pollution.
The
system established under the Compensation Law provides compensation for
"non-pollutant specific diseases," for example asthma brought
on by air pollution, where a cause and effect relationship is difficult
to prove, as well as for "pollutant-specific diseases," where
there is a clearly identifiable specific cause, as in the case of Minamata
Disease. The costs of compensation for "non-pollutant specific diseases"
are covered by lcvies collected from corporations all over Japan, whereas
compensation for "pollutant-specific diseases" is collected from
the causer of the pollution.
Since
the Compensation Law was revised and renamed as the Law Concerning Compensation
and Prevention of Pollution-relatcd Health Damages in 1987, various projects
for protection against pollution-caused health risks, including the setting
up of funds, have been implementcd as part of more comprehensive environmental
health measures that cmphasize prevcntion over compensation.
Minamata
Disease-The origin of pollution issues in Japan
Minamata
Disease was discovered around Minamata Bay in Kumamoto Prefecture in 1956,
and around the Agano River in Niigata Prcfecture in 1965. It is a disease
of the central ncrvous system caused by eating large amounts of sea foods
polluted by methyl mercury discharged from chemical factories.
Up
to now, the corporations responsible for the pollution have paid compensation
to 3,000 people certified to have suffered from the disease according to
criteria based on the Compensation Law. Legal disputes involving people
who claimed to be victims but were denied certification have been resolved
for the time being after a government-mediated agreement in 1995, and a
national policy relating to medical projects adopted by the Cabinet in December
1995 is currently being implcmented. The Environment Agency has been promoting
international contribution to pollution prevention on the basis of Japan's
experience with Minamata Disease. |
