Abstract
Since the Toda Kogyo Co., Ltd., the biggest rouge (powder of iron oxide) manufacturer in Japan, opened and ran a factory at a small valley in Takebe Cho, Okayama Prefecture, in 1954, many residents near the factory suffered from remarkable environmental disruption such as air, soil, river and well water pollution. Air pollution has been mainly caused by SO2, discharged from baking furnaces of raw materials (FeSO4⋅7H2O), and dust of rouge. Soil and water pollution have been caused by drained water containing SO4-- and iron particles.
The houses, furnitures, crops and livestocks of the residents have been spoilt by these kinds of pollution.
About forty of them in the valley have suffered from severe health impairment, such as pulmonary emphysema, chronic bronchitis, bronchial asthma, asthmatic bronchitis, rhino-pharyngo-laryngitis, conjunctivitis and, or pulmonary function impairment. In 1968, a man aged 85 died from bronchial asthma which might have been caused by air pollution.
The authors have studied this problem and the results are as follows:
1. It is easy to conjecture that Toda Kogyo has developed into the biggest rouge manufacturer in Japan by saving the expense of preventing environmental disruption.
2. Most administrative and political measures could hardly prevent environmental disruption, until some new legisrations had stopped the process of baking raw materials in 1971.
3. Although some epidemiological surveys were conducted by the government offices concerned, health impairment and nuisance to each resident have not been studied precisely nor fully discussed until recently.
4. In 1973, the residents in the valley brought a suit at the District Court of Okayama against Toda Kogyo about the environmental disruption and resulting health injuries and damages of their properties.
5. The authors have conducted the precise epidemiological survey in 1973 which clarified that most of the 39 residents in the valley were strongly suspected to have been injured by air pollution, which might have been more intense than that in the Yokkaichi district.
6. In the final analysis, the construction of such a chemical factory should not be permitted in a small valley in order to prevent environmental disruption.
