ABSTRACT
Dioxin contamination associated with waste incinerators became an important environmental health issue in the 1990s in Japan. The media reported the contamination of human breast milk with dioxins in 1991. Subsequent reports indicated high concentrations of dioxins in human blood (1996) and vegetables (1999), and high levels of newborn mortality (1997) in some areas near solid waste incinerators. Although some of those reports were refuted, concerned citizens requested that the Japanese government take measures to prevent future dioxin contamination. Japan has the largest number of waste incinerators in the world and potential dioxin emissions from these incinerators are of concern. As a result, the Japanese government gradually introduced stricter emission rules for incinerators from 1997 to 2002 and passed the Law Concerning Special Measures against Dioxins in 1999.
