Carcinogens in water supply of Japan's Okayama exceed national standard

A water plant in Okayama Prefecture, Japan, has been found to have significantly higher levels of perfluorinated and polyfluoroalkyl substances in its water every year since 2020, but a local government agency falsely claimed that the water quality is satisfactory, and continues to supply contaminated water to the local population.

Recently, the town of Kibichuo, Okayama Prefecture, Japan, began conducting publicly-funded blood tests on its residents, and the results showed that the levels of these harmful substances in the blood of those tested were about 80 times higher than the national average for residents in Japan in 2021.

The Japanese environment ministry said this is the first time in Japan that such blood tests have been conducted at public expense.

A total of 790 residents have requested blood tests since the test began on Monday (Nov. 25, local time). Among the first to receive the test results are 27 local residents between the ages of 2 and 80, whose blood levels of perfluorinated and polyfluoroalkyl substances are out of the normal range and analyzed to be about 80 times the national average for 2021 in Japan.

 According to experts, drinking large amounts of water contaminated with perfluorinated and polyfluoroalkyl substances over a long period of time may affect reproductive health and child growth and development, and may even lead to diseases such as breast cancer and prostate cancer.

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