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according to a report by cctv news on september 7, in response to the problem of excessive organic fluoride levels in rivers and other areas in higashihiroshima city, hiroshima prefecture, japan, the hiroshima prefectural government and the higashihiroshima city government announced the results of an investigation by the u.s. military stationed in japan through the japanese ministry of defense on the same day.

the u.s. military said that after investigation, it was confirmed that the u.s. military kawakami ammunition depot in higashihiroshima city had used fire extinguishing agents containing organic fluorides in the inspection of fire trucks and fire drills between 1991 and 2009. previously, the u.s. military said that it had never used fire extinguishing agents containing organic fluorides in the ammunition depot.

a u.s. military base in japan (photo source: xinhua news agency)

according to a report in march this year, regarding the detection of high concentrations of organic fluoride in some rivers and groundwater flowing through higashihiroshima city, hiroshima prefecture, the city government released an investigation report stating that the source of organic fluoride pollution is likely to be the ammunition depot of the us military stationed in japan. for this reason, the local government will continue to negotiate with the us military through the japanese central government and demand that the facts and causes be investigated.

the current safety standard value of organic fluoride concentration used in japan (tentative) is no more than 50 nanograms per liter. previously, a survey of water samples from many places in higashihiroshima city showed that the concentration of organic fluoride in water samples in some areas reached 300 times the standard value.

according to a previously published survey report, the results of a sampling survey of the seno river near the us military ammunition depot showed that the concentration of organic fluoride exceeded the standard at two of the four sampling locations. in addition, the survey report showed that no organic fluoride was detected in the water upstream of the ammunition depot.

previously, the higashihiroshima city government had communicated with the u.s. military through the japanese central government and asked the u.s. military to investigate the relevant situation. in february this year, the u.s. military responded that it had not confirmed that there had been any leakage of organic fluoride and other substances inside or outside the u.s. military base facilities in hiroshima prefecture.

japanese people walking on the street (source: xinhua news agency)

the reporter noticed that in addition to the problem of excessive organic fluoride in rivers and other areas in higashihiroshima city, hiroshima prefecture, japan, abnormal water quality has been detected in many places in japan and has affected the health of local residents. the source of the contaminated water is also suspected to be the us military stationed in japan.

according to reports, since 2023, okinawa prefecture, osaka prefecture and tokyo metropolitan government in japan have successively reported that the levels of perfluorinated and polyfluoroalkyl substances in water bodies have exceeded the standard, and blood tests of nearby residents have been abnormal. since most of the incident areas are close to us military bases in japan and japan self-defense force bases, these bases are considered possible sources of pollution.

as of early july 2023, groundwater in 17 areas of tokyo was found to contain excessive levels of perfluorinated and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and more than half of the residents in the tama area in western tokyo had abnormal blood test results.

a survey report in november 2023 showed that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances were detected exceeding the standard in rivers and groundwater in many cities in the kansai region of japan, and some residents in settsu city, osaka prefecture had high levels of organic fluorine compounds in their blood, posing a threat to their health.

not only in tokyo, a survey by the okinawa prefecture government showed that water bodies at 30 locations around the u.s. military base in okinawa were found to contain excessive levels of perfluorinated and polyfluoroalkyl substances. the okinawa prefecture government called on nearby residents not to drink water from these locations to avoid health threats. a survey result released by a citizen group in the prefecture showed that about 40% of residents living around the u.s. military base in okinawa had abnormal blood test results.

according to previous reports, 1.4 million liters of water contaminated with organic fluorides are stored at the yokota air base of the u.s. forces in tokyo, which has not yet been treated.

data shows that perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances are difficult to degrade and will accumulate in the environment and human body, and are called "permanent chemicals". experts point out that long-term and large-scale drinking of water contaminated by such substances may affect reproductive health and children's growth and development, and even cause breast cancer, prostate cancer and other diseases.

jimu news integrates cctv news, xinhua news agency, china news service, and global times

(source: jimu news)

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