The Environment Agency will call on every factory in the petroleum, chemical, iron- and paper-making industries to set their own targets for reducing emissions of the suspected carcinogen benzene, agency sources said Monday.
The agency decided to take the move after concluding that voluntary efforts by each industrial sector would not be enough to substantially reduce overall benzene emissions, according to the sources.
Benzene, along with trichloroethylene, was designated by the government in 1997 as a harmful airborne substance under the Air Pollution Control Law. The government has been calling on companies and factories to reduce emissions of such substances as early as possible.