NEW YORK -- Japan will stiffen regulations on the density of highly toxic dioxin in gas discharged from incinerators and empower prefectural governors to order commercial operators of incinerators to observe the new standards, starting on Sunday, Kyodo news agency reported.
The new directives stipulate that the density of dioxin from large incinerators with the daily capacity to burn 200 kilograms or more in garbage and industrial waste must not eclipse 1 nanogram per cubic meter of an incinerator's exhaust gas, Kyodo reported.
One nanogram is one-billionth of a gram.
The maximum allowable density under the new regulations on the substance, a hormone-disrupting chemical, is one-80th that tolerated under regulations that have been valid up to Saturday, Kyodo reported.
Those who defy a governor's orders could be punished with a prison term. Japan, which depends on incineration for garbage disposal, is said to be one of the worst countries in terms of the annual volume of dioxin emissions, Kyodo reported.
Dioxin makes its way into human bodies through the eating of such food as fish and dairy products.
The new rules also mandate that small incinerators with a daily burning capacity of less than 200 kg, such as those for use in households, be replaced with new models able to burn garbage at 800 C or above, unless the burning temperatures of existing models can be hiked above that threshold, Kyodo reported.
Those who can't live up to the new rules would be left with no alternative but to halt the operations of their incinerators , Kyodo reported.
The new regulations put the local governmental and commercial operators of incinerators , which have been deemed the chief culprit in dioxin-related pollution, at a critical juncture, Kyodo reported.
Operators of incinerators nationwide have been trying to replace their obsolete incinerators with new models or larger incinerators , usually those with a daily disposal capacity of 100 tons or more, which provide a greater dioxin-eliminating capability, Kyodo reported.
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