Regarding proper management of chemical substances

There are a wide variety of chemical substances on earth, and the number of commercialized substances alone is as high as 100,000. While these substances make our lives more convenient, they can also have an adverse effect on human health.
Chemical substances that are known to have harmful effects are regulated by law.

According to Article 108, Paragraph 2 of the "Environmental Ordinance for Ensuring the Health and Safety of Tokyo Citizens," businesses that handle chemical substances are subject to annual regulations if they use 100 kilograms or more of properly managed chemical substances (59 substances) per year. Notification to the city is mandatory, and regulations stipulate that efforts must be made to use chemical substances appropriately.

Chemical substances that require particularly proper management are called "properly managed chemical substances" and refer to substances stipulated in Article 51 of the Ordinance.

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 110, Paragraph 1 of the Ordinance, business establishments that handle properly controlled chemical substances are required to determine the amount of properly controlled chemical substances used during the previous fiscal year (from April 1st to March 31st of the following year) each year, and to report to the Mayor if the amount of any properly controlled chemical substance used exceeds 100 kilograms.

For details on the system, please see the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Environment website below.

Chemical substances are also regulated by the government's "Law on identifying the amount of specific chemical substances released into the environment and promoting improvements in their management."

The PRTR system is a system to understand, aggregate, and publish the amount of chemical substances released into the environment and the amount contained in waste transferred outside the business site based on reports from business sites and national estimates.

For more information on the PRTR system, please see the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's website below.