PFAS in Water Supply System Concerned

The Japanese are known as sensitive about poison in water supply. Massacre on Koreans occurred in the time of the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 with suspect that the Koreans ran poison into waterworks. In the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, waterworks were not available for days with possibility of contamination with radiation emitted from exploded Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Now, the name of threat is called PFAS, representing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

PFAS has been used for fire-extinguishing form or coating for frying pans. It was detected around military bases of United States Force in Okinawa or Tokyo, causing concerns of residents around. Some substances are recognized as causing cancer. The government of Japan set a regulation of PFAS in public water service systems in 2020, which most Japanese use for drinking.

 

The government of Japan conducted nation-wide survey on PFAS in waterworks for the first time between May and September. Most public water service systems are operated by local governments. Among about twelve thousand local water services all over Japan, 3595 answered the questions.

 

In the past surveys, 11 services in FY 2020, 5 in FY 2021, 4 in FY 2022 and 3 in FY 2023 reported examples of beyond the threshold of PFAS regulation. The regulation is to keep the sum of PFOS (Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid) and PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic acid) below 50 nanogram in 1 liter of water. It is unclear where those substances came from.

 

The survey this year did not find any sample which exceeded set regulation. That does not mean that no PFAS is in public water service system in Japan. 30 local services detected PFAS below the threshold of regulation. The survey did not cover small-size water supply systems, which use groundwater for their resource. It is not fair to say that the survey was perfect for assessing whole water service systems in Japan.

 

According to a report of Tokyo Shimbun, Ministry of Environment distributed guideline for dealing with PFAS to local governments. While the ministry has been reluctant to exercise blood test for detecting impact on human body, concerning negative psychological impact on the recipients, the guideline approves certain efficiency of blood test. Receiving criticisms of experts on the negative attitude of the ministry, the ministry changed its stance.

 

In the discussion of the House of Councillors, a deputy head of Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Kiyomi Tsujimoto, asked Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to enhance the regulation on PFAS. “I am going to conclude next spring how to deal with this issue, with advice of experts, which may include setting stricter regulation,” said Ishiba to Tsujimoto. It is expected that the government will mandate all the local governments to inspect their public water systems.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Amendment of Local Autonomy Law

The House of Representatives started discussion on revision of the Local Autonomy Law, which would vest the national government a power to instruct local government in an emergency. It may change the relationship between the national and local government, which has been recognized as equal. The opposition parties oppose the amendment, arguing that it would give the national government an excessive power.   With the Meiji Restoration, the national government abolished the feudal system, introducing modern governance. However, its autonomy was not sufficient. The governor of each prefecture was appointed by the national government. The local governments subordinated to the national government. It was as late as 2000 when  the Comprehensive Decentralization Law  was enacted and the relationship between the national and local government was defined as equal.   The national government found inconvenience in the relationship between the national and local government, when ...
Read more

Request for Final Nuclear Disposal Site

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry requested Genkai Town, Saga, to accept “literature survey” for building a final disposal site for high-level radioactive waste. Genkai is going to answer within this month. If it accepts, it will be the third place to accept that survey, following two places in Hokkaido. Main reason to accept the survey is supposed to be subsidy from the national government.   Japan has no final disposal site. Among all 54 reactors in 17 nuclear power generation plant, 12 reactors of 6 plants are operating. The rest of them are not in operation, some of which are determined to be decommissioned. Used nuclear fuels are stocked in each plant, 　 or have sent to a reprocessing plant in Rokkasho, Aomori. There are two plans to stock nuclear wastes in the intermediate facility for disposal, one is already built and another is still in negotiation.   Nuclear Fuel Final Disposal Act in 2000 determines to bury nuclear waste in the underground. Literature survey, ...
Read more

Not A Royal Wedding

The bride called her husband an indispensable existence and their marriage was necessary choice to protect their mind. The groom insisted on his life as only once and his right to be with his loved one. Her father wanted his daughter’s marriage to be celebrated by the people. The people were not sure whether the family was happy as a whole. Is this the traditional Japanese social system that makes no one happy? Mako Komuro, as known as Princess Mako during her life in one of the royal family Akishino, held on Tuesday a press conference with her husband Kei Komuro, right after submitting marriage report to local government. It was something different from ordinary Q&A session, because Mako was afraid of her mental uneasiness brought by some questions not based on truth. So, the event was actually one-sided speech to the reporters. Mako emphasized that the Kei’s decision of studying abroad five years ago had not been his original idea, but a result of her request to establish an over...
Read more