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- September 2012
- Administrative Guidance on Manufacture, Import, etc. of Organic Pigments that can Unintentionally Contain Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Fifth Report)
Joint Press Release with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Ministry of the EnvironmentAdministrative Guidance on Manufacture, Import, etc. of Organic Pigments that can Unintentionally Contain Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Fifth Report)
Following the press release on February 10, 2012, announcing that some organic pigments contain an unintentionally generated trace amount of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a company newly reported to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) that some organic pigments, which were sold as their own-brand products, might contain PCBs in excess of the international standard (50 ppm), and METI hereby announces the pigments.
METI instructed the company to stop the shipment of the pigments and to collect them, and also instructed the manufacturer of the pigments to stop manufacturing and importing the pigments.
If any further pigment containing PCBs in excess of 50 ppm is found in the future, METI will continue to provide the same administrative guidance and announce such products from time to time.
1. Designation of the entrepreneur
- Sansui Shikiso Kogyo, Kabushiki Gaisha (Higashiosaka City, Osaka Prefecture); Manufacturer and importer
- Sanyo Color Works, Ltd. (Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture); Seller of the pigments as their own-brand products
Note: The products were organic pigments that Sansui Shikiso Kogyo manufactured and all of which were sold by Sanyo Color Works.
2. Progress
Sanyo Color Works reanalyzed the pigments by using a method different from conventional ones and found that some of the pigments might contain PCBs in excess of the international standard (50 ppm).
The company said that they also reanalyzed other organic pigments by using the method but did not find any pigments which contain PCBs in excess of such value, 50 ppm.
3. METI's action in this case
METI instructed Sanyo Color Works to stop the shipment of the pigments and to collect them, and also instructed Sansui Shikiso Kogyo, manufacturer of the pigments, to stop manufacturing and importing the pigments. As additional information, the pigments have not been manufactured or shipped since the pigments were detected in February 2012. METI and other related ministries and agencies are now jointly investigating possible applications or other uses of products containing the pigments.
4. Pigments for which byproduct PCB generation in excess of 50 ppm was confirmed
| Product name, manufactured or imported quantity, etc. | Major applications |
|---|---|
| Product name: Sanyo Shikiso Pigment Yellow 1207 Reported maximum PCB value: 1500ppm Manufactured quantity of the product: 300kg (FY2011) (No such products are manufactured in FY2012) |
Ingredients of cosmetics, etc. (the details are under investigation.) |
- Appendix 1: Organic pigments found to contain PCBs in excess of 50ppm as by-products (PDF:162KB)
(in Japanese) - Reference 1: Organic Pigments That Can Unintentionally Contain Polychlorinated Biphenyls (press release on February 10, 2012)
Release Date
September 6, 2012
Division in Charge
Chemical Safety Office, Chemical Management Policy Division, Manufacturing Industries Bureau