The Dioxin Problem and Fear of Invisible Pollution (Late 1990s)

The Dioxin Problem and Fear of Invisible Pollution (Late 1990s)
The fear of dioxin that spread throughout Japanese society in the late 1990s was of a different nature than the conventional perception of pollution. Unlike pollution such as Minamata disease and Yokkaichi asthma, which had visible damage, dioxin was a substance whose symptoms did not appear immediately and to what extent it was dangerous was difficult to tell. The anxiety repeatedly expressed in this issue reflects the fear of this invisibility itself.

Emergency investigations and media reports by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 1997 pointed out the possibility that small incinerators were the source of high concentrations of dioxin, prompting the closure or consolidation of incinerators throughout Japan. Large-scale incinerators operating continuously at high temperatures were said to be able to reduce emissions, but residents had a new concern: the larger the scale, the greater the impact in the event of an accident.

The residents were particularly concerned about the destination of incinerated ash and fly ash. The possibility of long-term contamination of soil and groundwater by ash that had not been disposed of properly and brought to a final disposal site was perceived as an act of harm, even if it was not explicitly criminal. There was a widespread fear in society of a time lag that dioxin might create future victims as it accumulated in the environment and returned to humans through the ecosystem.

The waste management scene depicted in this issue is a situation in which the perpetration of harm is perceived to lurk in the gaps between systems and management, even before illegality has been proven. The dioxin issue symbolically illustrated the process by which environmental destruction accumulates in society as fear and distrust before it becomes an incident.