There are as many as 2000 municipal garbage incinerators in Japan and they emit large amounts of dioxins. Intake of dioxins of the average Japanese is three to four times that in other developed countries. The dioxin level in breast milk is also more than three times that in other developed countries. Breast-feeding may be dangerous. Human health risk due to dioxins does not fall within the ordinarily acceptable limits.
Residents living near garbage or industrial waste incinerators are at the highest risk.
In line with such a social background, the Ministry of Health and Welfare came up with a policy for abating dioxins. This includes the regulation program for dioxin levels in gas emitted from garbage incinerators and a policy that encourages the construction of large incinerators. The Ministry announced that only large incinerators, which incinerate more than 300 tons of garbage daily, and a minimum of 100 tons, would be subsidized. I object to such a generalized understanding and to the Government fs policy regarding dioxin pollution prevention and have often voiced my opinion in newspapers and on television. I will discuss these points now.