Akashi River in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan has record level of PFAS Contamination
100,000 parts per trillion of deadly PFOA found in the river.
Levels are the highest reported anywhere on earth.
By Pat Elder
January 5, 2023
Prefectural Assemblyman Maki Maruo (left) visited the Environmental Conservation Division in Kobe City Hall and submitted a document requesting industrial waste businesses to investigate the source of the waste.
Maki Maruo is a member of the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly, and he is very concerned about Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) levels in the Akashi River. PFOA is believed to be the deadliest of all PFAS compounds. Maki is worried about the health of the people he represents.
In 2023 Maruo and others conducted PFAS testing of the Akashi River basin in Kobe City's Nishi Ward, and others.
The site of the record levels of PFOA is 12 kilometers from the sea,
not far from Kobe.
One site identified by Maruo’s group identified an area in the Akashi River with 100,000 ppt of PFOA. The civil engineering firm Seishin Kaihatu is responsible, according to the lawmaker. This is the highest recorded release of PFOA anywhere on earth.
Maruo was forceful with his words. “This is a great crime against humanity. Perhaps the company does not understand the consequences of its actions. It is the responsibility of the Ministry of the Environment to protect the Japanese people and the environment. Both entities are responsible for endangering human health.”
Toxic contamination flows from the Seishin Kaihatu site.
Levels are said to be 2,000 times higher than the target value.
13 locations had water levels that exceeded the Japanese government’s “provisional target value” of 50 parts per trillion (ppt) for the combined total of PFOS and PFOA. The Japan Ministry of the Environment watches from the sidelines.
PFAS concentrations in waters called effluent that pour from sewage treatment plants worldwide have been found to range up to 5,663.3 ppt, according to various studies. In 2022 at the U.S. Navy’s Yokosuka base on Tokyo Bay, the Navy reported 12,900 ppt of PFOA in wastewater draining to the sea.
Akio Koizumi, professor emeritus of environmental hygiene at Kyoto University, told the Kobe Shimbun, "We suspect that chemical substances treated as industrial waste may be leaking.” The Japanese people should listen to this great environmental prophet.
PFOA is leaking furiously, but it’s not a leak that can be easily fixed. It is a “leak” that is part of the daily routine. Certain industrial processes necessitate the release of the carcinogens and no one in Japan seems to have a better plan.
This is the site of the highly toxic water draining
from Seishin Kaihatu into the Akashi River.
Many look to the Japanese government to solve this politically charged human health crisis. Political realities rule out vigorous regulation in the U.S. and much of the industrialized world. Japan is the world’s hope, and it starts with the Ministry of the Environment.
The Kobe Shimbun reported:
Although carcinogens and other risks of PFAS have been pointed out overseas, no health hazards have been confirmed in Japan, according to the Ministry of the Environment. However, since the target values are being exceeded in rivers across Japan, the Ministry has indicated that it will conduct research on the harmful effects of PFAS.
Japan is 5-10 years behind much of the developed world on this, but the country is likely to catch up in a hurry, as its amazing history suggests.
A Minister of the Environment spokesperson explained, “Since there are no legal regulations, we will ask businesses that are thought to be the source of the pollution to take voluntary action if high values are found.”
Polluting businesses are allowed to regulate themselves because there are no laws saying they can’t. This is dangerous public policy that will change as the Japanese people learn how dangerous these chemicals are. University professors like Koizumi and Kouji H Harada of Kyoto University, along with Kunitoshi Sakurai of Okinawa University and a host of others have been trying to communicate the dangers. Generally, the press has been reluctant to cover the story in a meaningful way, aside from parroting official sources.
California classifies PFOA as a deadly human carcinogen. Exposure to PFOA in the tiniest concentrations has been associated with dangerously high cholesterol levels, pancreatic tumors, increased liver enzymes, decreased vaccination response, thyroid disorders, pregnancy-induced hypertension, testicular cancer, and chronic kidney disease.
It’s been almost 5 years since Linda Birnbaum, director of the U.S. National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences said the safety threshold for PFOA in drinking water should be under .1 part per trillion. Birnbaum explained, “If you look at the data, pancreatic tumors are present at very, very low concentrations from PFOA.”
It’s not surprising that the incidence, prevalence, and mortality of pancreatic cancer in Japan is the highest in Asia, while Japan is expected to continue seeing large increases in pancreatic cancer cases.
Chronic kidney disease is also closely linked to PFOA. Studies based on several community-based screening programs suggest that Japan has the highest prevalence of chronic kidney disease anywhere on earth.
Certainly, pancreatic cancer and kidney disease may be caused by multiple factors, but these findings deserve further scrutiny, especially when Japan is swimming in these carcinogens.
Since Dr. Birnbaum warned us five years ago, the U.S. EPA has established an interim health advisory of .004 ppt for PFOA in drinking water. The U.S. still does not have mandatory regulations.
EPA scientists set the advisories while political appointees decide whether to enforce them.
Japan’s advisory is set at 50 ppt, a level that is 12,500 times greater than the EPA threshold. The interim health advisory was set at .02 ppt for PFOS, demonstrating the American scientific view that PFOA - among all 15,000 varieties of PFAS, is thought to be the deadliest.
We tested the tap water in Toyonaka, Osaka and found 4.9 ppt of PFOA. This doesn’t sound like a great deal to the Japanese public, but it is still more than a thousand times over what the U.S. says is dangerous. The installation of a simple PFAS water filter cleaned the water from all PFAS. The Japanese ministries of the Environment and the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare and Health ought to be more involved.
Generally, PFAS contamination in streams and rivers throughout Japan pose a greater threat to health than the contamination in the tap water.
The Japanese government’s provisional target of 50 ppt in surface waters fails to protect human health! Tiny levels begin the process of bioaccumulation in aquatic life. Consequently, fish and people are poisoned. Still, many will say they don’t drink from the toxic waters of the Akashi River, so this is not a big deal.
PFOA in these record concentrations can be extraordinarily dangerous for many reasons, but primarily because it bioaccumulates in certain species of fish and in clams and crabs at many times over the Japanese target of 50 ppt. Sewer sludge is loaded with PFOA and spread over fields that grow contaminated crops. Beef, pork, and chicken are also contaminated.
Asked if there is a difference between eating or drinking PFAS contamination, Dr. Birnbaum replied, “No. Both are routes of ingestion. Whether you eat it or drink it, PFAS go to the same places in the body and do the same thing. We need appropriate fish advisories and regulation of what’s in our food.”
PFOA coats the sediment on riverbeds and along the banks. When the waters recede, the chemicals dry in the sun and are lifted into the air as dust to settle in our lungs and our homes.
What’s in your dust, Japan?
Food is the primary exposure pathway of PFOA for adults, while dust is the most prominent way children are contaminated. Drinking water is the major exposure pathway in communities with contaminated water, while water service throughout Japan is rapidly mobilizing to meet the threat. It has always been about the food, although Japan is slow to realize this.
Japan may be slow to catch on to the threat posed by PFAS, although the message is spreading exponentially.
Kobe City Councilor Shinji Kagawa is organizing a conference for 400 set for April in Kobe that will feature Professor Emeritus Koizumi of Kyoto University. Kagawa is working with Maruo and Kaoru Kobashi, a prominent environmental activist. More to follow.
I plan to return to Japan over the summer with the Veterans for Peace Speaking Tour directed by Rachel Clark. I will lecture about the threat of PFAS posed by industrial, residential, and military sources. Information and awareness of the dangers of PFAS are growing exponentially in Japan. It is exciting to watch this dynamic nation come to grips with these dangerous carcinogens. This year we hope to raise enough funds to expand our tour and provide PFAS testing services to volunteers throughout the country. Please consider supporting us when we solicit contributions in future newsletters. - Pat
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