TOKYO, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) — Japanese authorities have performed an on-site inspection of the U.S. Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo over the likelihood that water contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) overflowed from the bottom, native media reported Friday.
The inspection got here two months after the U.S. army knowledgeable the Japanese facet that the water containing PFAS artificial chemical compounds had leaked from an space of the bottom the place a firefighting drill was being carried out.
Officials from the protection ministry, the international ministry, the surroundings ministry, Tokyo’s metropolitan authorities in addition to native municipalities entered the bottom on Friday morning, Kyodo News reported.
They inspected the firefighting coaching space the place the leakage was believed to have occurred and water samples from the reservoir within the firefighting coaching space had been anticipated to be taken sooner or later, the report stated.
“This inspection was conducted in response to the fears and concerns harbored by local residents, and we will continue to work together with the U.S. side,” Fumitoshi Sato, deputy chief cupboard secretary, advised reporters.
PFAS, utilized in all kinds of merchandise together with fireplace extinguishers, is named “forever chemicals” as a result of it breaks down very slowly over time and may accumulate in folks, animals, vegetation and the surroundings.
The U.S. army in Japan has already stopped utilizing extinguishers that embody PFAS, however previous U.S. investigations had detected in reservoirs ranges far above Japan’s nonbinding interim requirements.
Japan’s meals security panel beforehand concluded that the consequences of PFAS on birthweight loss and diminished immunity are “undeniable,” although “evidence is limited” relating to the potential of PFAS to trigger most cancers.
On Oct. 3, Tokyo officers obtained a report from the U.S. army by means of the protection ministry that roughly 48,000 liters of PFAS-contaminated water overflowed from the firefighting coaching space on the base throughout heavy rainfall on Aug. 30.