Shigeharu Nakachi

Environmental Monitoring Laboratory
(2-1-30 Benten, Minato-ku, Osaka 552 Japan)

Abstract

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) perform key roles in toxic substances management based on the public right-to-know. In the case of waste dumping as definded as the last storage of toxic substances, land and underground water are polluted by waste dumping in Japan. The principle of the right of the community and of workers to know these risks should be recognized. It urges the Japanese government to consider adopting a right-to-know policy and to establish Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs) .

Key words: right-to-know, environmental management and audit, environmental contamination, Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs), Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)