Japan - Air pollution not improving

[John Visher <visherjc@crisscross.com>]

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/news10-99/news.html#story5

                                                         (October 19)

          Air pollution not improving

          Air pollution levels around the nation remained little changed
in 1998 from the year before, with nitrogen dioxide and other pollutants

          known to cause respiratory disorders still a problem in major
cities, according to an Environment Agency report released Tuesday.

          Nitrogen dioxide levels exceeded the government-set
environmental standard at air monitoring stations in 14 prefectures,
with the most
          transgressions reported in the Kanto and Kinki regions, the
annual report on the nation's air pollution situation says.

          In the two urban areas, targeted under a special 1992 law to
bring their nitrogen dioxide air pollution levels in line with
environmental
          standards and the rest of the country, only 74 percent of
general air monitoring stations, such as those located in residential
areas, and 35
          percent of roadside air monitoring stations met the
recommended level of less than 0.06 parts per million.

          Both figures are worse than in past years and fall short of
the government's goal of "most" sites in the two urban regions meeting
the
          environmental standard by the end of fiscal 2000.

          Despite the damper the results put on government hopes of
achieving a 90 percent success rate by March 2001, agency officials said
they
          plan to redouble efforts to meet the objectives set out in the
Law Concerning Special Measures for Total Emission Reduction of Nitrogen

          Oxides from Automobiles in Specified Areas.

          The highest nitrogen dioxide levels recorded were found at
roadside survey sites in Kawasaki and Yokohama, six of Tokyo's 23 wards
          and one site in Osaka.

          At general air monitoring sites, Tokyo's Koto, Chuo and
Arakawa wards topped the list.

          In addition to nitrogen dioxide, suspended particulate matter,
the result of vehicle, factory and coal-fired power plant emissions, was
also
          found at high levels in urban areas.

          Nationwide, SPM air pollution met government standards at 67
percent of general air monitoring stations and 35 roadside monitoring
          stations.

          In the Kinki and Kanto regions, targeted under the automobile
nitrogen oxides law, SPM levels met government levels at only 12 percent

          of roadside monitoring sites and 33 percent of the general
survey centers.

          Aomori, Nagano and Kochi prefectures are among 13 prefectures
that cleared the upper limits for nitrogen dioxide and SPM at all the
          sites tested.

          Sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide levels continued to meet
government-set environmental standards at nearly all testing sites, as
they
          have since around 1980.

          The study was carried out at 1,724 general air monitoring
facilities and 414 air monitoring sites around the country.

          The government has said the nitrogen dioxide standard will be
met "on the whole" by fiscal 2000 in regions where the law is
applicable.

          But realization of that goal seems unlikely as the level of
air pollution has remained more or less constant over the past decade
due to
          increasing traffic density.

     Dioxin levels fall but benzene still above limits

          Dioxin levels in air throughout Japan improved in 1998, but
levels of benzene -- a potent carcinogen found in automobile exhaust --
are
          still above government safety levels, according to the
government's most comprehensive survey of harmful airborne chemicals.

          The study, released Tuesday, was carried out by the
Environment Agency and municipal governments to measure the
concentrations of 19
          harmful chemicals at hundreds of sites throughout the country.

          Dioxin was lower on average than the year before, with an
average value of 0.23 picograms per cubic meter. This year, only two of
the
          458 sites showed dioxin levels above the government's 0.8
picogram guideline, whereas 21 percent of the surveyed sites exceeded
          guidelines in 1997. A picogram is a trillionth of a gram.

          In addition, 52 sites surveyed consecutively in both 1997 and
1998 for comparison purposes showed that the average dioxin
          concentration dropped from 0.56 to 0.31 picograms per cubic
meter of air, the report says, adding that the highest recorded value
was
          cut nearly in half, from 1.4 to 0.71 picograms.

          While the dioxin news was welcome, data showed that benzene
levels in the air exceeded the Environment Agency's standard of 3
          micrograms per cubic meter of air at 135 sites, or 46 percent
of those surveyed.

          The highest figure recorded was 11 micrograms per cubic meter,
with the national average coming to 3.3 micrograms.

          Of all the sites surveyed, 458 were tested for dioxin and 292
for benzene. The sites were classified into three types: roadside,
general or
          areas near suspected waste emitters.

          Agency officials admit the benzene situation is
"inappropriate," and say they plan to look at it in more depth when the
Air Pollution Control
          Law comes up for review next April.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/index-e.htm

      October 20, 1999


                73% of Tokyo area short of NO2 targets

                Yomiuri Shimbun

                More than 73 percent of locations in the Tokyo
metropolitan area failed to
                meet nitrogen dioxide emission standards, according to a
survey conducted
                by the Environment Agency in fiscal 1998.

                The 1993 law was designed to reduce levels of nitrogen
dioxide emissions in
                the Tokyo metropolitan area and Kinki region to a daily
average of less than
                0.06 parts per million in the air by March 2001.

                An agency official said it would be impossible to meet
the target by the
                deadline.

                Nitrogen dioxide, which causes various respiratory
illnesses and acid rain,
                was measured at 392 locations beside major highways
around the nation,
                according to the agency.

                Of these locations, 68 percent of them were below 0.06
ppm per day, as
                compared to 65 percent in fiscal 1997.

                The five prefectures and Tokyo are designated by the
government as having
                the worst pollution levels in the country.

                In the Tokyo metropolitan area, the rate of compliance
was 27 percent,
                down from the previous fiscal year's 31 percent, at 113
locations.




             Copyright 1999 The Yomiuri Shimbun

http://www.asahi.com/english/enews/enews.html#enews_25388
October 19, 1999
Tokyo, Kinki still choked by pollution

Asahi Shimbun

Air pollution along major road arteries around the country has not
improved since the mid-1980s, making it almost impossible to achieve the
government's target of
clean national environmental standards in the Tokyo metropolitan and
Kinki regions by 2000, officials said today.

The Environment Agency, releasing the results of tests on pollution
nationwide, said 35.7 percent of monitoring posts on suspended
particulate matter (SPM)
recorded levels under the environmental guidelines. It said 68.1 percent
of nitrogen dioxide monitoring posts had also cleared the guidelines.

For the Tokyo metropolitan and Kinki regions, only 12.4 percent of SPM
monitoring posts had acceptable results. In the case of nitrogen
dioxide, the figure was
35.7 percent.

The Environment Agency had set a 2000 deadline for achieving acceptable
levels of particulates and nitrogen dioxide in the two regions. The
survey results released
today show that goal will be impossible to achieve.

In comparison, 94.3 percent of NO2 monitoring posts in residential areas
and 68.1 percent of roadside monitoring posts cleared the national
standard. For SPM,
67.4 percent in residential areas and 35.7 percent of monitors cleared
the goal.

The Tokyo metropolitan area and Kinki were designated as special regions
for improvement under a law enacted in 1992 that was aimed at
controlling nitrogen
oxides emissions from automobiles. The law stipulated that by 2000
diesel engine truck owners were to switch to gasoline-powered trucks or
newer diesel models
that emit fewer pollutants.

In the metropolitan area, 27.4 percent of monitoring posts cleared the
guidelines, down 4.5 points compared with last year's survey. In the
Kinki region, the figure
was 51.7 percent, an improvement of 12.7 points.

Overall, 35.7 of monitoring posts in the two regions found acceptable
levels--a situation that was little changed from last year.

For SPM, only 3.1 percent of monitoring posts in the metropolitan area
and 34.1 percent in the Kinki region cleared the guidelines.

Agency officials said they wanted to set up a panel to discuss possible
countermeasures and devise how to improve air pollution by the end of
the year.