Asahi Shinbun (evening version) Aug. 11 1999

[Sanae Matsuzaki <matsuzaki@nimc.go.jp>]

Hello! My name is Matsuzaki(ms). I sent previously "Japan Times Thu. Aug. 12
1999---Germany to check blood for dioxin--". The following article is in the
same context.

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Asahi Shinbun (evening version) Aug. 11 1999.    (Tentative Translation)

[Question on the method of Dioxin detection --- The most toxic elements may
be lost by vaporization.  Residents presented the questionnaire]

Many authorities including the national government and local governments are
recently reporting the dioxin concentrations in human blood as a indicate
for human exposure. But the method for the analysis of dioxin in human blood
is not established in our country. It was revealed by some witnesses and
tests that almost all parts of the most toxic elements may be lost during
the process of concentration and vaporization. People who lived near
incineration and asked to detect dioxin in their blood to experts or a
laboratory overseas doubted the results from Japanese authorities. The
latter were always much lower than the former. 

Dr. Shigeru Suzuki, the Center for Health and Environment of Miyagi
prefecture tested the efficiency of the vaporization by nitrogen gas in the
collaboration with the National Institute of Environmental Studies and
reported the result at the annual meeting of the Society of the
Environmental Chemistry in last month, July.

It was convinced that dioxins are very stable both chemically and thermally
and not vaporized at the room temperature, so that not lost. So, test
practitioners are used to vaporize the solution until dried up by nitrogen gas.

The experiment by Dr. Suzuki, however, indicated that vaporization by the
nitrogen gas blew off dioxin as well as the solvent. The lighter components,
that is tetraclhlorides or pentachlorides, were easy to be lost. During the
blowing of 20 minutes, 60% of the tetrachlorides were lost. In contrast
hexachlorides and octachlorides were not blown off. They were all remained
in the dried part. The temperature also affect the efficiency for the blow
off. Only 4% was remained after 20 minutes blow at 60 degree centigrade, for
example. 

There can be seen the evidences for this fault in the reports of the
authorities. One of those is the result of dioxin detection in human blood
of the residents near the Shirotori incinerator. The blood was collected in
last December and the result was reported in this Spring by the government
Ibaraki Prefecture. (This project was led by Dr. Masatoshi Morita of the
NIES. He trained the employees of  the private laboratory that trusted the
analysis.) The residents pointed out that only 8% of the 120 persons were
detected in 2,3,7,8-TCDD and one or two picograms were detected among the
rest of  the people. The average concentration of dioxin was 9.7 picogram
per fat gram in TEQ, which is a half of the presumable amount in general
population in the industrial countries.

Dr. Hideaki Miyata who was analyzed the blood of the residents before last
year reported the 2,3,7,8-TCDD. The residents would present their question
to the government, the Ministry of Heath and Welfare and the Agency of
Environment. (Dr. Miyata doesn*t use nitrogen gas, instead leave the
solution at room temperature for 24 hours.)

(The omments in the parenthesis are from the sender.)
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