Coming back to Tokyo, they soon checked the birthplace of all normal cases.

“This is, too. This is…”

Almost all the normal cases’ birthplaces had not adopted the official school lunch service because of too few pupils and too far distance. Keiko and Kazuki suspected the school lunch service. But they had no information about the possible cause to connect the lunch service to the infertility. The service was strictly regulated by the Ministry of Health and there was no room to be suspected. For further research they needed to visit the supply center.

But it was not so easy for non-related persons to observe the center. Kazuki asked the general manager of the center which he had collected materials before.

“I believe there is nothing special in our center. We manage the center under strict regulation of the Government. Such problem would not be thinkable.”

The general manager was unwilling to permit them to enter the workshop.

Keiko heard the same word, “Official Regulation”, again. People always say so. Japanese people sometimes prefer regulations by the Government, because they believe it can be the most reliable.

But Keiko had rather suspected such system. Because if we rely on one unified system and if this system is wrong, there is a possibility all the people are sacrificed as the result..

After long time negotiation, the GM finally accepted their offer. They wore the protective clothes, masks, caps, gloves and shoes. They looked like a surgeon going into the operation room from now. At the entrance they washed both hands and stepped the disinfectant pool.

Inside the workshop it looked like some factory. A huge cutting machine was roared to slice one carton of carrots swiftly and poured them into the large pot.

“We are making 20 thousands of meals for all the elementary school in this region. This is the recipe for that.”

The table showed the necessary vegetables, seasonings and other additives. On the table they could find the stamp of persons in charge. The recipe was strictly supervised by double check.

It really looked like a manufacturing factory, not a cooking center. There was nothing suspicious.

They walked through the narrow corridor to the next area.

“Here is the washing area. We wash 20 thousands plates, cups, spoons, and so on with this machine. After washing the drying process will start by sending hot air wind.”

Keiko found the similar stamped table which recorded the additives like detergents, disinfectants and other chemicals. It was really the very watertight supervising.

When they moved to the exit, the washing machine was rotated and many plastic plates were pushed out on the rolling conveyer.

“May I take one plate as a specimen?”

Keiko asked.

“Yes, as you like. It’s not so expensive.”

Keiko had remembered one study report which warned the risk of the plastic resin.

After coming home Keiko looked into the SNS to search for the report. She entered key words, Polycarbonate and Risk. Soon after the title of the report appeared on the screen.

“The Effect of Bisphenol-A for the Animals Sexual Organ”

It was written by the US chemical professor several years ago. Keiko started reading.

“What are you reading?”

Kazuki looked into the screen curiously.

“It is about the plastic. As I said before, the plastic is very convenient materials but sometimes works as the Environmental Hormone.”

“Environmental Hormone?”

“Yes, it works like a kind of hormone. If a human takes such chemicals for long period, it will gradually affect various organ and cause various disease, for example, infertility.”

Kazuki was astonished.

“Infertility? Because of the plastic?”

“Yes. This study report shows the Bisphenol-A, which is eluted from the Polycarbonate resin, works like the estrogen, a kind of female hormone. This report mentions that the sexual organ of a male lizard has been atrophied because of the Bisphenol-A, and the male lizard has got a female feature at last.”

“Really, incredible. A male lizard had changed to a female. Such strange thing is likely to happen, isn’t it?”

“I am not sure. But that is just the feature of the Environmental Hormone. Nobody knows anything about what will really happen.”

“And what has become of that report thereafter?”

Keiko continued the research about the Bisphenol-A.

“This is it. In Japan it is regulated by the Food Sanitation Act. The acceptable environmental limit is strictly decided. 0.05 microgram per kilogram for one day. 2.5 mg for a person whose weight is 50 kg. This standard had been decided through various safety tests Very strict standard. It is not thinkable any bad effect on human health with normal daily usage.”

Keiko hit at a deadlock and completely shut her mouth. This is not, either.

After that Keiko still kept looking into the PC for hours. Only the time has passed in vain. A dried tea-stained cup told the length of passing time. Kazuki sighed taking with that stained cup.

“Ah, I will change the coffee. A cup was stained dirty.”

At that moment Keiko’s hand stopped.

“Kauki, what did you say now?”

“Well, coffee. The cup is already empty. I will poured another one.”

“No, not coffee. You said…”

“The cup was stained.”

“That’s it.”

Keiko rushed out of her room with the plate which they brought back from the supply center.

At the Laboratory.

Keiko set the plate in the chamber of a toll tower-shape device and turn on the switch.

“What’s this?”

“This is an electron microscope. I will scan the surface of this plate. Its scanning resolution is almost one million times as small as that of the normal light microscope. At this level we can observe even a molecule.”

After a while a picture was projected on the screen. Keiko carefully observed the picture.

“Just as I expected. Much Bisphenol-A was eluted and attached.”

“Incredible. At sight the plate looks very clean. No stain. Why?”

“Because it is too small for a human eye to see. But the microscope can detect it. Look at this. This fabric like structure is the surface of the plate and this entangled film like thing is the sheet of disinfectant. Much Bisphenol-A has been eluted from the plate because the disinfectant works as a kind of a catalyzer.”

As Keiko said, the surface of the plate looked very smooth at sight but once zoomed up closely it was made of numerous complicated fibers like bushes.

Keiko took out the plate and put it in the bucket like device and poured the boiled distilled water.

“What is the next?”

“I will check the density of Bisphenol-A”

Soon after the analysis finished with a beep.

“Amazing. 5 mg per cc. It is almost ten thousand times as much as that of the regulatory standard.”

“What does this mean?”

“I’m not sure exactly, but there is a possibility we had taken ten thousand times Bisphenol-A every time we took the school lunch for a long time. I believe it would be enough to cause the infertility.”

“That’s the terrible story. But why did such a thing happen? The Government strictly regulated the standard by test after test.”

“That is the very pharmaceutical world. ‘Do not mix the chemicals carelessly’ Even if each one is safe, once mixed something dangerous will be produced. In this case probably many safety tests had been done for Polycarbonate resin. Salt, acid, heat…, and other various chemicals. But it had been done individually. Nobody noticed there was a risk the dried disinfectant had stuck on the surface of the plate like a tea-stain. That was really the very blind spot.”

Keiko continued her explanation which would be the most important thing for whole human race to survive on this chemical filled Earth.

“And one more thing. Losing diversity will lead to the total extinction at times. The uniform system like Japanese School Lunch Service seems very convenient, but once it has some problem it will give a serious influence for all the people at once.”

One month later.

After the strict referee reading the WHO (World Health Organization) officially issued a recommendation for the Japanese Government to correct the workflow of the Public School Lunch Service. According to the recommendation, WHO strongly suspected the relation between Bisphenol-A and Japanese males’ infertility.

The Government issued the Special Order for Improvement of Operational Workflow to all the School Lunch Service Centers. And the Cabinet decided to apply the Official Medical Insurance for infertility treatment.

However nobody really know the Bisphenol-A is actually a cause of Japanese infertility and what will become of those infertile people in the future. There are too many possible factors to affect the human health in this world.

To be continued