Figure3-4 Changes to the Number of Illegal Dumping Cases of Industrial Waste and Volume Dumped

Volume of illegal dumping (ten thousand tons) ☐ Number of illegal dumping cases (cases)

Note 1: Regarding the number of cases and volume of illegal dumping shown above, from among illegal dumping of industrial waste identified by prefectures and ordinance-designated cities, cases where the volume of dump-ing per case was 10 tons or more were totalized (however, cases including specially controlled industrial waste were all counted individually).

2: As shown in the above graph, the cases of Gifu City and Numazu City were only discovered in 2003 and 2004 respectively; however, illegal dumping had already been carried out for several years previously and as a result, these cases were reported as a large-scale case in the relevant fiscal years. Concerning the Chiba City case in FY2006, the case was actually revealed in 1998, but the report was not made to the Ministry of the Environment at the that time, and it was made in FY2006.

3: Sulfate pitch cases and ferrosilt cases were excluded from the survey. Ferrosilt was used as refill materials, and its sales and use started in August 2001. Approx. 720,000 tons were sold and used, but later this was identified as illegal dumping cases. The illegal dumping was confirmed at 45 sites in four prefectures, and removal of ferrosilt had been completed at 39 sites (as of the end of November 2008).

Source: Ministry of the Environment

## 4 Assessment and Control of Risks from Chemical Substances in the Environment

In current society, a great variety of chemical substances are used in various industrial activities and in daily life that make our life convenient. Some chemical substances are generated unintentionally from combustion of materials. Some other chemical substances cause environmental pollution if they are not managed appropriately during each stage of their life cycle, including manufacture, distribution, use and disposal, and have hazardous impacts on human health and ecosystems.

The seventh report for the initial environmental risk assessment of chemicals was compiled in FY2008, collecting knowledge in order to assess the potential hazardous impacts of chemical substances on human health and ecosystems (environmental risk assessment). As a result of the report, four substances have been identified of having a relative high risk possibility, and have been designated as “candidates for detailed assessment.”

In accordance with the Act on the Evaluation of Chemical Substances and Regulation of Their Manufacture, etc. (the Chemical Substances Control Law), a total of 676 notifications of the manufacture or import of new chemical substances were made in FY2008 (of which 298 were for low quantities), and pre-market evaluations were conducted for those notifications (Figure4-1). As a review on the Chemical Substances Control Law was considered and was compiled at a joint meeting of the Health Science Council, the Industrial Structure Council and the Central Environment Council in December 2008, the Bill to amend the Chemical Substances Control Law was promulgated in February 2009 and was submitted to the ordinary session of the Diet.

Regarding the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) system based on the law for PRTR, the seventh notification process was conducted. The amount of released and transferred chemical substances from individual company, its aggregate data and the estimated releases outside notification was announced in February 2009 (Figure4-2).

Regarding the measures against dioxins, the national reduction plan was amended in 2005, with a new target value to reduce approximately by 15% by 2010 from the 2003 level (Figure4-3). According to the list of dioxin emissions (emission inventory), that was announced in December 2008, the total estimated emissions in 2007 was approximately a 23% reduction from that of 2003, and reduction is progressing steadily.