Useless waste and necessary waste　1.5.2.1 Pollution in the 1960s 　Four out of 7 kinds of pollution

America's material prosperity is natural, but but there must have been pollution. It might have been natural that Japan, which was shown their prosperity, wanted to bring America's material prosperity to itself as a reaction and goal to the poor and painful times after the war.

However, material prosperity without ethics, consideration for the global environment and awe of plants and animals other than humans resulted in so-called seven pollutions. And the impact remains including the four major pollution lawsuits.

As you know, the seven pollutions are 1. air pollution, 2. water pollution, 3. noise, 4. vibration, 5. soil pollution, 6. subsidence and 7. bad smell. Now let's think about these again.

1. Air pollution

There are three causes of air pollution: soot and dust emitted from factories and automobile exhaust gas. Typical pollutants are sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, suspended particulate matter and photochemical oxidants. In Japan the influence of air pollution due to sulfur oxides from petroleum complex has been increasing in Yokkaichi since 1960. As a result respiratory diseases frequently occurred. For this reason the "Air Pollution Control Law" was enacted in 1968. In addition, victims are relieved based on the "Law concerning compensation for pollution and health damage". Measures to prevent air pollution include regulation of concentration at the outlet of soot-generating facilities such as factories, regulation of total amount of emissions in the entire region and setting of emission limits for vehicle exhaust gas.

2. Water pollution

Water pollution is the deterioration of water quality in water bodies such as rivers, lakes and oceans due to factory wastewater and domestic wastewater. Water pollution occurs over a considerable range due to business activities and human activities. When this causes damage to human health or the living environment, the Basic Environmental Law recognizes this as pollution. Regarding water pollution, it is desirable to protect human health and preserve and maintain the living environment. To achieve this, measures are being implemented based on the Water Pollution Control Law.

3. Noise

Noise is an undesired sound that disturbs the living environment such as disturbing sleep and conversation. It is better to have no noise. The characteristic of noise is that it is felt differently depending on the familiarity with the noise and the psychology of each individual. There are many different sources of noise. Various noises are the ones from factories, business establishments, construction work and various transportation facilities, the noises caused by late night business such as restaurants, the noises from commercial advertisement broadcasting using loudspeakers and the life noised from household equipment such as cooler driving. Environmental standards have been set to prevent pollution due to noise and measures are being implemented based on the Noise Regulation Law.

4. Vibration

Vibrations as a problem of pollution include artificial ground vibrations caused by business activities of factories, construction work and transportation operations. They cause physical damage by vibrating the building. And vibration causes problems by affecting our daily lives. The distance that the vibration propagates is usually within 100m from the vibration source, often around 10 to 20m. When expressed in terms of seismic intensity, it is approximately in the range of seismic intensity 1 to seismic intensity 3 on the surface of the earth. The Vibration Control Law, which defines necessary measures to prevent the effects of vibration, regulates vertical vibration (vertical vibration).