Abstract
This investigation was undertaken to find out the influence of the waste from pulp and paper factories on the bottom deposits in the east area of Sea of Hiuchi and in the off-Ohtsu area of Lake Biwa. The conclusions are as follows.
1. In the east area of Sea of Hiuchi, the COD values of bottom deposits are very high along the coast of the factory region of pulp and paper industries and the polluted area (COD > 30mg/g) has expanded as wide as 40km². Such expansion of the polluted area corresponds well with the growth of production in the pulp and paper industries. As for the accumulation of heavy metals, higher concentrations of copper and zinc than normal were detected throughout the area investigated with the highest value at the factory region.
2. In the offshore area of Ohtsu of Lake Biwa, increased values of ignition loss were observed with a board factory as the center of the increase. Various heavy metals have also accumulated a great deal in the area close to the factory. An evident PCB pollution was found there and this PCB pollution is thought to have been caused by non-carbon paper contained in the waste paper, the material of the board. The authors are concerned about the influence of this pollution on drinking water.
