tokyo

Research into the effects of endocrine disrupters, the man-made chemicals suspected of disrupting human reproductive functions, is about to expand in Japan. Such research is likely to receive a significant boost as part of the government's 16 trillion yen ($121 billion) economic stimulus package for the current fiscal year (which began on 1 April).

Plans to allocate ¥10 billion towards setting up a endocrine disrupter research laboratory were announced by Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the ruling party, last week. If approved by the parliament, this would become the largest national project on ‘environment hormones’, as the chemicals are known in Japan.

Details of the stimulus package are due to be announced by the Finance Ministry on 24 April. Although the issue of endocrine disrupters is not directly relevant to the government's economy-boosting measures, it is considered “an urgent matter that must be tackled as part of the national agenda”, according to an LDP spokesman.

Widespread concern about the effects of ‘environment hormones’ was precipitated last year by the release of a report compiled by the Environment Agency. This listed 67 chemical compounds, such as dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyl compounds (PCBs) and organic tin compounds, which were suspected of mimicking naturally occurring sex hormones.

Although the details of endocrine disrupters' effects on the human reproductive system are still unknown, many scientists agree on the importance of increasing knowledge about the potential danger of man-made chemicals being dispersed into the environment.

“It is not easy to determine the effect of each chemical substance on mankind that has been released into the environment,” says Taisei Nomura, a professor in embryology at Osaka University. “But, given their potential impact on human reproductive organs, it is essential that more research is carried out.”

The new laboratory would be set up at the Environment Agency's National Institute for Environmental Studies, in Tsukuba. It would focus on methods to detect the presence of endocrine disrupters by analysing chemical compounds found in soil and water samples.

Meanwhile, the Science and Technology Agency intends to fund a separate three-year research programme on endocrine disrupters and other environmental pollutants, such as formaldehyde. This project, the cost of which is estimated to be more than ¥400 million a year, will be carried out jointly by 30 national institutes and industry.