Japan to Seek Int'l Cooperation on Chemical Studies at G-8 Meeting

Tokyo, Feb. 3 (Jiji Press)--Japan will propose international
cooperation on studies into the impacts of chemical substances on the growth of children at a coming meeting of environment ministers of the Group of Eight major nations, Jiji Press learned Tuesday.

At the G-8 meeting in Sicily, Italy, in April, Japan will
underscore the need for the international community to share data on studies
on certain substances, including dioxin, government sources said.
Japan will start its own research in fiscal 2010 to track the
growth of some 60,000 children from the fetal stage to around 12 years old.
The research will look at how chemical substances in the bodies of mothers
affect the physical, mental and intellectual development of children.
Denmark, Norway and the United States have already started similar
researches covering 90,000 to 100,000 children.
The Japanese Environment Ministry plans to establish international
standards and methodologies for such studies so that countries involved can
share data on the studies. The ministry hopes that dioxin, mercury, lead,
cadmium and polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCB, will be covered by the common
standards, according to the sources.
At the coming G-8 ministerial meeting, Japan is also expected to
propose analyses of the blood and umbilical cord blood of mothers to
identify which chemical substances fetuses are exposed to and determine the
densities of such substances, the sources said.
At a meeting in the United States in 1997, G-8 environment
ministers adopted a joint declaration calling for further efforts to protect
children from harmful substances. Since then, researches into the impacts of
various substances on children have been conducted around the world.