Assessment of the Human Health Risk Derived from Chemicals in Export Products from Japan
摘要
Export products are one of the possible routes for the transboundary movement of chemical substances from Japan but are not included in the scope of the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) system in Japan. Scholars performed stock flow and exposure analyses and evaluated the substitution of chemicals with safer substances. However, all these works were conducted in Japan, and no quantitative study has considered the risks derived from chemicals in export products from the country. To fill such gap, this study quantitatively assessed the human health risk derived from the chemical substances contained in export products from Japan to the importing country and to verify the effectiveness of risk reduction measures, including substance substitution. Target countries were selected by characterizing Japan’s export partner countries. Human health risks were then estimated using Trade Statistics of Japan, cumulative Weibull distribution function, emission factors, and the USE tox model. The main finding was that the greatest risk reduction was achieved when substance substitution was conducted, and the importation of used products containing controlled substances was regulated in the importing country.