The giant “tea bags” of Kibichuo, Japan
For 15 years 600 large bags filled with PFAS from a wastewater treatment plant seeped into surface water used for drinking water.
By Pat Elder
July 3, 2024
Japanese authorities say that about 600 “Flexicon” bags containing high concentrations of per-and poly fluoroalkyl substances, (PFAS), placed at a storage site were allowed to seep into a stream that drains into a reservoir that provides drinking water to Kibichuo, Japan. The bags contained highly toxic activated carbon used in the wastewater treatment process to adsorb carcinogenic PFAS compounds. Like giant tea bags, the carcinogenic brew was allowed to seep into the surface water for 15 years. Hitchcock couldn’t have written a better script.
Kibichuo’s Tea bags
Top left – A heavy-duty bag used to store activated carbon.
Top Right - Activated carbon replacement at a water purification plant. KSB 5
Bottom left - 600 bags filled with granular activated carbon containing dangerous levels of PFOA drained into the surface water for 15 years in Kibichuo Town, Japan - KSB Setonaikai Broadcasting Co.
Bottom Right - Large bags containing PFOA-saturated activated carbon are loaded onto a truck in Kibichuo, Japan, in November, 2023.
See the Article, “The Ongoing PFAS Problem” Friday Magazine, May 24, 2024 現在進行形のPFAS問題を追う by Ueda Takenori.
Takenori reports, “There was no roof over the bags, which were exposed to rain, and the bags were in a deteriorated, torn, and tattered condition. Bamboo had grown out from under the soil and was breaking through the bags.”
How it was discovered
The contamination was first discovered in October 2023, when an employee of Okayama Prefecture found that 1,400 ng/L of Perfluorooctanoic acid, (PFOA) had been detected in the purified water of the Enjo water treatment plant in Kibichuo. PFOA is just one of more than 15,000 different PFAS compounds. The concentration of 1,400 ng/L is 28 times over the Japanese provisional target value of 50 ng/L. Ng/L means nanograms per liter, or parts per trillion.
Scientists often scoff at Japan’s high “provisional target value” of 50 ng/L for the combined value of PFOA and PFOS, (another deadly kind of PFAS compound), claiming they do not protect human health. The Japanese Ministry of the Environment has set provisional target values rather than enforceable values.
Studies have shown that PFOA in drinking water at .1 ng/L is associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer while Japan is among world-wide leaders in pancreatic cancer rates. PFOA is also associated with higher incidences of kidney cancer, breast cancer, and testicular cancer. The substance bioaccumulates in our bodies and never breaks down.
The U.S. EPA set an interim lifetime health advisory of .004 ng/L in drinking water. The 1,400 ng/L people may have been drinking was 350,000 times over this limit for many years.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set an enforceable limit of 4 ng/L for PFOA, a level that many scientists say are too high to be protective of public health.
Although PFOA levels had ranged from 800 to 1,400 ng/L in water samples since 2020, the town continued to distribute water to residents without taking any measures. How many other places in Japan are half-asleep like this?
Masanori Toshihara of the Kibichuo Waterworks Division, said, “There has been a lack of awareness.” The town was aware that the levels were significantly above the provisional target values but allowed the water to be used as drinking water.
Kibichuo Town Mayor Yamamoto Masanori said, "We are very sorry that there was a period of time when people continued to drink the water due to a lack of awareness. All other items were OK, and we were operating under the understanding that this was 'suitable' for tap water, but we were a little careless about this."
There are mayors like Yamamoto Masanori all around the world who are “a little careless about this.” The lion’s share of the blame, however, rests with the national government in Japan and governments worldwide that continue to adopt a laissez-faire attitude toward regulating these carcinogens.
Activated carbon filtration
Granular activated carbon is used to clean contaminated surface water or groundwater for human consumption. PFAS are adsorbed on the highly porous inner structure of activated carbon. The technology has not developed enough for us to know how to dispose of these substances. We can’t bury them and we can’t burn them. It just doesn’t go away.
A stream contained 62,000 ng/L (parts per trillion) of total PFAS close to where there were hundreds of huge tea bag-like containers piled up on the side of the road.
Citizens within the town organized a group called "Enjo Water Filtration Plant PFAS Problem Volunteers' Group.” They contacted Akio Koizumi, a professor emeritus at the esteemed Kyoto University.
Rachel Clark of the Veterans for Peace Japan Speaking Tour is shown here with Dr. Koizumi in 2023.
Koizumi conducted blood tests on 27 residents in November 2023 and found PFOA levels averaged 171.2 ng/ml, with the highest being 348.5 ng/ml. (ng/ml = nanograms per milliliter = parts per billion) This is thought to be the highest level in the general population in the world, although the Veneto region, Italy deserves mention.
Protesters in the Veneto Region, Italy carry a sign saying No more PFAS!
Serum Levels of PFOA in adolescents and young adults exposed to contaminated drinking water for many years in the Veneto region, Italy showed median blood serum levels of 44.4 ng/mL while the highest level totaled a frightening concentration of 1,400.0 ng/mL. This is four times higher than blood serum levels reported in Kibichuo.
A chemical plant owned by Mitsubishi discharged PFOA for many years, polluting drinking water throughout much of the Veneto region of Italy. One study showed heavily exposed workers had increased mortality for liver cancer, liver cirrhosis, diabetes, and malignant neoplasms of lymphatic and hematopoietic tissue. It is something clinicians in Japan should be closely scrutinizing. Over 350,000 residents in Veneto are estimated to have been exposed to contamination through tap water.
Between 1990 and 2009, Mitsubishi commissioned numerous investigations into the plant, and knew the contamination it was causing. Mitsubishi failed to warn the public they were drinking poisonous water. In 2009 Mitsubishi sold the plant to the International Chemical Investors Group, (ICIG).
What do the blood serum numbers mean?
They mean the health of people in Veneto Region, Italy and Kibichuo, Japan is seriously threatened.
In the U.S., the National Academies of the Sciences recommends the following for doctors treating patients with a serum PFAS concentration between 2 and 20 ng/mL Clinicians should:
· Prioritize screening for dyslipidemia
· Screen for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy at all prenatal visits
· Screen for breast cancer
For patients with serum PFAS concentration of 20 ng/mL or higher, clinicians should also:
· Conduct thyroid function testing (for patients over age 18) with serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH)
· Assess for signs and symptoms of kidney cancer (for patients over 45), including with urinalysis, and
· For patients over 15, assess for signs and symptoms of testicular cancer and ulcerative colitis.
In response to the shocking blood serum results in Kibichuo, the town announced it would conduct blood tests for all residents in the target area who wish to take them. This may be the first time in Japan where blood tests will be conducted by a public institution.
Ueda Takenori’s article provides an in-depth analysis of this crucial human health issue that has not been adequately covered by the Japanese media. One claim in the piece should be examined, however. After reporting that the contamination of tap water has been resolved, he writes, “All that remains is to follow up on the health effects on the residents. It may get better, but it will not get worse.”
It will likely get worse for Kibichuo’s residents and that’s because the primary pathway to human ingestion is through the food, especially seafood, rather than the water, under normal circumstances. PFOA builds up in the human body, but it is not easily excreted.
Salmon, canned tuna, tilapia, cod, canned sardines, and clams are loaded with PFOA. J Agric Food Chem. 2022 Crabs and shrimp are also a constant source of PFOA contamination. The Japanese must come to understand that most of the PFAS they consume is from the food, especially the fish they consume.
In 2020, PFOA was banned worldwide as part of the Stockholm Convention, but many toxic substitutes have been introduced that are still largely a mystery to the Japanese public.
The equation is simple enough. Industry, government agencies, and the military used PFOA in a host of products and applications until it was gradually substituted with other deadly PFAS compounds that also poison the public. The carcinogens continue to enter the environment through wastewater treatment facilities, leachate from landfills and incomplete incineration. Japan must awake from its slumber.
I will be travelling to Ireland, UK, and Germany in July and to Japan in August to meet up with environmental activists working with Veterans for Peace to test surface waters that drain from industrial and military sites for PFAS contamination. We’ve raised a lot of money, but we still need to raise $3,000. Please help. Please make a note that your contribution is for testing waters in Europe and Japan.
The Downs Law Group helps to make this work possible. Their support allows us to research and write about military contamination around the world.
The firm is working to provide legal representation to individuals in the U.S. and abroad with a high likelihood of exposure to a host of contaminants.
The Downs Law Group employs attorneys accredited by the Department of Veterans Affairs to assist those who have served in obtaining VA Compensation and Pension Benefits they are rightly owed.
If you spent time in the military and you think you or your dependents may be sick as a result of your service, think about joining this group to learn from others with similar issues.
Are you interested in joining a multi-base class action lawsuit pertaining to illnesses stemming from various kinds of environmental contamination? Contact James Bussey at busride1969@hotmail.com
Consider joining the Veterans & Civilians Clean Water Alliance Facebook group. 2,700 members and growing.