PCB News
Japanese Ministry to create national online database on PCB storage
Japan Economic Newswire
TOKYO, Feb. 6, 2003
The Environment Ministry decided Thursday to create and post a
national database on storage conditions of polychlorinated biphenyl
(PCB), a toxic substance, by businesses in Japan in fiscal 2003 on its
Web site, ministry officials said.
The ministry is planning a nationwide database combining regional data
on the storage conditions of the chemical substance made public by
local governments.
The ministry hopes the database will also enable people to monitor the
progress of detoxifying and disposing of PCB-containing materials.
Under the law governing the disposal of PCB-containing materials,
businesses are obliged to submit data on the kinds and amounts of
material and the storage locations to prefectural and local
authorities.
According to the ministry's first national survey on PCB storage
conditions conducted in July 2001, about 270,000 high-voltage
transformers and capacitors used and stored in Japan contained 70% of
the PCB used in the country.
The government is proceeding with plans to detoxify and dispose of PCB
materials. The government-linked Japan Environment Corporation will
establish disposal facilities in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture,
Toyoda, Aichi Prefecture, and a waterfront area in Tokyo.
PCB is comprised of industrial chemicals, which were useful because of
their resistance to degradation but are poisonous environmental
pollutants. They can be found in older transformers, capacitors and
other electrical components.
Copyright 2003 Kyodo News Service
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