TOKYO, July 5 (Reuters) - The Tokyo government should scrap its plan to move the Tsukiji market, the world's biggest fish market, to a nearby wharf that may be contaminated with toxic chemicals, an expert and a group of wholesalers said on Thursday.

The metropolitan government announced a plan in 2001 to relocate the 230,000-sq metre (275,000-sq yard) market to a Tokyo Bay wharf, about 3 km (1.9 miles) from the heart of Tokyo.

The wharf was built on reclaimed land, and some say it is contaminated with high levels of toxic chemicals such as benzene, cyanogens and arsenic.

"It is a reckless plan to relocate a market of perishables to that contaminated soil," geologist Yukio Sakamaki told a news conference. Tokyo has said it will take steps to decontaminate the wharf, which is double the size of the Tsukiji site, before building facilities for a new market there by 2012.

Tsukiji market, established in 1935, is home to some 1,000 wholesale shops and one of the most popular tourist spots in Tokyo for Japanese and foreign visitors alike.

Sakamaki said toxic chemicals could threaten the lives of workers and visitors at the proposed new market and contaminate marine products traded there.

He added that a major earthquake could cause soil liquefaction in which a mix of polluted soil and groundwater could cover the ground and spread pollution.

"This is an outrage that gives no consideration to food safety," said Takashi Saito who represents a group of wholesalers opposed to the relocation plan. "Top priority must be placed on food safety."

Haruo Yamazaki, who heads the group of wholesalers, said the Tsukiji market had never had any contamination or hygienic problems in the past 72 years.

"There is no worry about contamination in Tsukiji. We fear that fresh and clean fish will be contaminated" at the proposed new site, he said.

Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara has said he plans to use the Tsukiji site as a media centre for the 2016 Summer Olympics if Tokyo wins its bid to host the Games.

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