Results from PFAS testing at 39 sites in Japan show serious contamination
Poisoned surface water and groundwater threaten human health.
By Pat Elder
July 18, 2024
(L) PFAS sampling location; (R) Adjacent Misawa fishing pond.
The red marker in the photo on the left shows the site of a water sample collected at the Misawa fishing pond adjacent to Misawa Air Base, home to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, the US Air Force, and the US Navy. The photo also captures the fire training pit about 400 meters west of the sample site. The pond is beautiful, but the fish are likely to be highly carcinogenic due to dangerous levels of PFAS in the water.
In May and June of this year environmental activists in Japan used water test kits we provided to sample surface water and well water at 40 sites throughout the country. One test kit was missing in action, so we have 39 sets of results, shown here, alphabetically by the name of the town.
Throughout the country we found 27 of the 55 compounds the Cyclopure test kit is able to detect. See the compounds listed here.
The government of Japan has set a voluntary target of 50 nanograms per liter (ng/L or parts per trillion) for the combined total of just two PFAS compounds known as PFOS and PFOA in tap water and rivers. These compounds are no longer in use and have been replaced by many of the compounds shown above. They are all hazardous to health and many have been shown to bioaccumulate in living organisms like aquatic life, farm animals, and humans. Japanese provisional exceedances are shown below in bold. Using this relaxed measure, 12 of the 39 locations we tested show exceedances.
Just 1 part per trillion daily of some of these compounds in drinking water may be associated with the increased likelihood of disease and cancer, while fish in Japan have been shown to contain hundreds of thousands of parts per trillion of PFAS.
The US has established enforceable limits for five PFAS compounds in drinking water: PFOS 4 ppt; PFOA 4; PFHxS 10; PFNA 10; and HFPO-DA (Gen X) 10.
It’s a good step, but it is not fully protective of our health.
Applying the American limits shows exceedances at 24 of the 39 sites.
We were unable to detect PFAS from four samples taken from ocean water at the US Navy’s Fleet Activities Yokosuka. We wanted to test at that location because the Navy reported releasing wastewater nearby containing 12,900 ppt of PFOA in September of 2022. PFOA tends to bind to sediment while the prevailing currents at the outfall may initially take the chemicals out to the sea. The particularly deadly compound, PFOA is known to bioaccumulate in crustaceans. It doesn’t go away. This is a great crime against humanity.
PFOS, another chemical that is sort of monitored by the Japanese government, is a great threat to human health because it bioaccumulates in fish. Just 1 part per trillion of PFOS in surface water may begin the bio accumulative process in aquatic life. PFOS gathers in fish filet from several hundred to two thousand times the ambient water levels. Japan is in trouble.
All measurements in ng/L or ppt.
Akishima, Tokyo 196-0025 (well water)
PFOS 24.8; PFOA 5.1; Total PFAS 51.5
Akisima, Tokyo 196-0022 (well water)
PFOS 4.1; PFOA 2.5 Total PFAS 12.5
Chatan, Okinawa 904-0116
PFOS 18.8; PFOA 3.6; Total PFAS 56.9
Chatan, Okinawa 904-0113
PFOS 1; PFOA 0; Total PFAS 1
5. Fujiidera, Osaka 583-0012
PFOS 1.1; PFOA 4.2; Total PFAS 9.2
Ginowan, Okinawa 901-2223
PFOS 259.8; PFOA 58.4; Total PFAS 624.1
Ginowan, Okinawa 901-2221
PFOS 101.4; PFOA 10; Total PFAS 193.3
Ginowan, Okinawa 901-2226
PFOS 3.3; PFOA 1.0; Total PFAS 5.4 ppt.
Higashi, Hiroshima 739-0147
PFOS 132.2; PFOA 2.5; Total PFAS 190.5
10. Ishigaki, Okinawa 907-0003
PFOS 0; PFOA 1.5; Total PFAS 9.3
Iwakuni, Yamaguchi 740-0025
PFOS 63.4; PFOA 25.9; Total PFAS 148.9
Iwakuni, Yamaguchi 740-0031
PFOS 0; PFOA 0; Total PFAS 1.3
Kadena, Okinawa 904-0202
PFOS 546.9; PFOA 56.3; Total PFAS 1,300.2
Kadena, Okinawa 904-0202
PFOS 92.5; PFOA 6; Total PFAS 165.5
15. Kadena, Nakagami District, Okinawa 904-0203
PFOS 57; PFOA 4.3; Total PFAS 111.5
Kim, Okinawa 904-1203
PFOS 22; PFOA 2.7; Total PFAS 44.1
Kim, Okinawa 904-1201
PFOS 2.5; PFOA 3.9; Total PFAS 13.5
Kim, Okinawa 904-1203
PFOS 20.9; PFOA 9.4; Total PFAS 206.5
Misawa, Aomari 033-0022
PFOS 774.4; PFOA 38.4; Total PFAS 1,447.5
20. Misawa, Aomari 033-0022
PFOS 12.7; PFOA 2.3; Total PFAS 34.7
Miyako Zima, Okinawa 906-0303
PFOS 0; PFOA 0; Total PFAS 0
Nago, Okinawa 905-2171
Total PFAS 0
Naha, Okinawa 901-0155
PFOS 271.3 ppt; PFOA 1.9 ppt; Total PFAS 310.6 ppt
Naha, Okinawa 901-0145
PFOS 1.7; PFOA 0; Total PFAS 1.7
25. Nakano Ward, Tokyo 164-0003
PFOS 2.3; PFOA 5.1; Total PFAS 13.6
Okinawa, Okinawa 904-0000
PFOS 199.7; PFOA 13; PFAS Total 414.7
Osaka-City, Osaka 554-0044
PFOS 2.9; PFOA 5.2, Total PFAS 48
Saika Town, Kyoto 619-0244
PFOS 0; PFOA 12.5; Total PFAS 18.9
Sasebo, Japan
Total PFAS 0.
30. Sasebo, Japan
Total PFAS 0.
Tatikawa, Tokyo 196-0031
PFOS 3.8; PFOA 1.2; Total PFAS 13.9
Tatikawa, Tokyo 196-0031
PFOS 87.2; PFOA 33.1; Total PFAS 299.8
Toyoyama, Aichi 480-0201
PFOS 7.1; PFOA 1.4; Total PFAS 20.5
Urasoe, Okinawa 901-2124
PFOS 4.1 PFOA 0; Total PFAS 7.5
35. Uruma, Okinawa 904-2202
PFOS 55.5; PFOA 10.1; Total PFAS 157.1
Yokosuka, Kanagawa 238-0003
PFOS 1.2 Total PFOS 1.2
Yokosuka, Kanagawa 238-0003
PFAS Total 0
Yokosuka, Kanagawa 238-0003
PFAS Total 0.
39. Yokosuka, Kanagawa 238-0003
PFAS Total 0
Please help me pay for the travel and the testing. Please note that your contribution is for the Japan Speaking Tour. There’s so much work to be done! Testing surface waters draws attention to this pressing human health issue. Too much attention is focused on the drinking water while food, especially seafood, is the primary pathway of human ingestion of PFAS.
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