dioxin and cars in japan

[Neil Tangri <ntangri@essential.org>]

     Study: Automobiles emit 250 times more dioxin than previously thought 
     
     
     Yomiuri Shimbun
     
     Automobiles annually discharge 17 grams of highly toxic dioxin in the 
     country--a rate 250 times higher than that previously estimated by the 
     government, according to a recent survey conducted by the National 
     Institute for Environmental Studies. 
     
     Direct exposure to that amount of dioxin would be enough to kill 14 
     million guinea pigs, scientists said. 
     
     Ten years ago, a group of researchers at Kyoto University's 
     Engineering Department estimated the total amount of dioxin discharged 
     from automobiles annually to be 0.07 grams. The government has been 
     employing this figure in calculations of dioxin emissions from 
     traffic. 
     
     European countries' estimates, however, are between 100 and 1,000 
     times higher than the government's. Germany, for example, estimates 
     annual dioxin emissions from traffic at between eight and 145 grams, 
     and regards automobiles and incinerators as the major sources of 
     dioxin pollution. 
     
     This is the first time that the amount of dioxin contained in 
     automobile exhaust has been officially measured in Japan. The 
     government has yet to place limits on the amount of dioxin in 
     automobile exhaust. 
     
     Although the dioxin from automobiles accounts for less than 1 percent 
     of the total amount of dioxin discharged from various sources across 
     the nation, the survey has proved that automobiles are partly 
     responsible for spreading dioxin pollution. Between 2,000 and 3,000 
     grams of dioxin is estimated to be discharged annually in this 
     country. 
     
     A group of researchers, including Yuuichi Miyahara, at the Environment 
     Agency's institute in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, conducted the 
     survey in 1997 and 1998. The group will publish results from the 
     survey shortly in Chemosphere, a British magazine on environmental 
     chemistry. 
     
     The researchers analyzed particulate matter from automobile exhaust 
     that they collected from the ventilators of a highway tunnel. They 
     confirmed that the particulate matter contained an average of 242 
     picograms of dioxin per one gram of particulate matter. 
     
     The researchers calculated the total amount of dioxin discharged from 
     automobiles annually on the basis of this figure and data on the total 
     amount of particulate matter discharged from automobiles across the 
     nation. 
     
     There has been growing criticism of the government's lack of 
     restrictions on automobile dioxin emissions. "The government's policy 
     does not reflect reality," a scientist said. 
     
      
      
      
     
     
     Copyright 1999 The Yomiuri Shimbun
     


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Neil TANGRI