Japan Times & Asahi Shimbun - High dioxin ingestion found in Osaka, Saitama

[John Visher <visherjc@crisscross.com>]

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/news8-99/news.html#story8

(August 31)
High dioxin ingestion found in Osaka, Saitama

          Ten of 59 people surveyed from Osaka and Saitama prefectures
were found to be consuming more than the tolerable daily intake of
          dioxin, the amount experts believe can be ingested throughout
one's lifetime without any adverse effects.

          According to an Environment Agency report released Tuesday,
nearly 17 percent of the people surveyed in a government study of the
          long-term exposure to airborne dioxin were found to have
consumed more than the TDI. This is the first government study
indicating that
          part of the population may be ingesting levels higher than the
tolerable amount.

          The national TDI was reduced from 10 picograms to 4 picograms
per kilogram of body weight per day in a Health and Welfare Ministry
          and Environment Agency revision in June. A picogram is
one-trillionth of a gram.

          The agency did the study to try to determine the relationship
between dioxin levels in areas around incinerators and people living
nearby in
          contrast to those living further away.

          The research focused on Nose, Osaka Prefecture, and
Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, two areas with waste incinerators that
have
          shown high dioxin levels. Dioxin levels in people living
within 2 km of waste incinerator facilities were compared with those
living more
          than 2 km but less than 10 km from the facilities.

          The survey included studies of dioxin levels in the blood of
63 people, as well as levels in the air -- both indoor and outdoor --
soil and
          meals. But no relationship between proximity to the
incinerators and dioxin levels or ingestion was found, according to the
report.

          However, of the 59 participants in the meals component of the
survey, 10 were estimated to consume more than 4 picograms per
          kilogram of body weight per day, the new government safety
standard. Seven of the 10 were from Nose and the remaining three were
          from Saitama. The highest estimated level was 8.6 picograms
per kilogram of body weight per day, double the national TDI found in
the
          diet of a Saitama participant

          The Diet-sanctioned lower TDI figure will be included in a new
law to help reduce the nation's infamous dioxin levels. The legislation
is set
          to take effect in January.

          The government study was conducted October though December
1998. To estimate the amount of dioxin in food, the government
          collected food samples for three days.

http://www.asahi.com/english/enews/enews.html#enews_24307

August 31, 1999

     High dioxin levels found in 2 areas

Asahi Shimbun

More than 15 percent of people living in the Tokorozawa area in Saitama
Prefecture and in Nose, Osaka, have ingested cancer-causing dioxin at
rates higher than
the government's safety standards, an Environment Agency survey showed
today.

The highest rate was 8.6 picograms per kilogram of body weight marked by

a person in the Tokorozawa area. Thegovernment's standard is 4 picograms

per
kilogram.

One picogram is one-trillionth of a gram.

Tokorozawa is known for its many garbage incinerators, which are
reportedly discharging dioxin emissions. Soil around an incinerator in
Nose contained the nation's
highest concentration of dioxin, according to surveys.

The survey also found that more than 90 percent of the dioxin entered
the residents' bodies through food.

The agency surveyed 63 people in five municipalities in Saitama
Prefecture, including Tokorozawa, and Nose from autumn to the end of
last year.

In Tokorozawa and Nose, people volunteered for the survey. They were
classified into two groups--those living within 2 kilometers of garbage
incinerators, and
those living more than 2 kilometers from those facilities.

The agency surveyed dioxin concentrations in the participants' blood and

studied their meals for three days to estimate the amount of dioxin
intake from the food.

It also estimated the amount of the cancer-causing substance that
entered their bodies through air and soil.

The survey showed that two people living within 2 kilometers of waste
incinerators in the Tokorozawa area contained more than 8 picograms of
dioxin per kilogram
of body weight.

Ten people in Tokorozawa and Nose are believed to have taken in dioxin
exceeding the government's safety standards, the survey showed.

The average daily intake of those living within 2 kilometers of the
incinerators in Tokorozawa was estimated at 2.7 picograms. The
corresponding figure for those
outside the2-kilometer radius was 1.8 picograms.

Meanwhile, the figures for those within 2 kilometers of the incinerator
in Nose and for those outside the 2-kilometer area were 2.1 picograms
and 2.8 picograms,
respectively.