Dishes made of a material containing what are believed to be hormone-disrupting chemicals are used at 40% of public elementary and junior high schools that serve lunches, according to a report by the Education Ministry. The study, conducted in May 1998 on over 3,000 local governments that run schools providing lunches, showed that 12,409 schools, or 40.1% use dishes made from polycarbonate. Concerns about the safety of the dishes have been raised, however, due to recent reports that bisphenol-A, a chemical substance used to make polycarbonate, can dissolve under certain conditions and disrupt hormone functions when it enters the body. According to the survey, of 1,686 local authorities whose schools used polycarbonate dishes, 39 said they had stopped using them due to safety concerns and are now using ceramic or stainless steel plates/bowls.
