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.