A group of residents of the Japanese capital discovered a higher concentration of potentially harmful fluorosurfactants (PFAS) in the blood of some western Tokyo residents, Kyodo News reported on January 31.
According to activists, this increase may be due to contamination of the water supply system in the area, and that the activity of the US military base may be the reason for this.
At the same time, Koji Harada, an assistant professor of public health at Kyoto University who made the measurements, noted that serious health consequences for city residents are extremely unlikely. In addition, he emphasized that Japan does not have its own recommendations for the concentration of PFAS in the blood, so the scientists used the German standards.
According to the researchers, these substances are actively used in foam fire extinguishers on US military bases. However, they were unable to find any evidence linking the higher concentration in western Tokyo to the Yokota Air Base located there.
Data collection for the analysis began in November 2022. It was attended by 87 people from the Tokyo cities of Kokubunji, Kodiara, Koganei, and Musashino. Twenty-one subjects were found to have an increase in perfluoroorganic acids (PFOS), including six people who found an increase in perfluoroorganic acids (PFOA).
According to the German standards used, the permissible level of PFOA is 10 ng/mL, while the maximum detected was 18.6 ng/mL. With PFOS, up to 20 ng/ml is allowed in the blood for each individual chemical, while the maximum figure was 35.8 ng/ml.
“Some residents clearly have a high concentration. This suggests that drinking water is the main reason for this.”Harada said.
Previously, this assistant professor also conducted an experiment to search for PFAS in the vicinity of the US base in Okinawa Prefecture. Then, out of 387 subjects, the excess of indicators was recorded in 27 people. The maximum concentration of PFOS in this case was 41.6 ng/ml.
In this regard, the Japanese expert called on local and state authorities to resolve the issue with the source of contamination.
Remember that due to the high content of PFOS and PFOA in the wells in the western district of Tokyo Tama, the filtering stations in the settlements of Kokubunji and Fuchu were forced to change the water source.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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