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Chemicals potentially harmful to human health, collectively known as PFAS, were detected in about 20 percent of tap water in Japan, though no samples contained the maximum permissible amount tentatively set by the government, a survey showed Friday.
In the government's first large-scale survey covering even small water utility companies, the chemicals were detected in water samples from 332 water companies in 46 of the country's 47 prefectures out of 1,745 companies surveyed.
The Environment Ministry and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has been conducting tap water surveys focused on PFAS containment since 2020 after the widely used and long-lasting substances were detected in filtration plants and rivers across the country and concerns grew about their possible links to cancer risks.
PFAS, or polyfluoroalkyl substances, used in various products such as non-stick cookware and water-repellent clothing, are known as "forever chemicals" because they have components which break down very slowly over time and can accumulate in people, animals, plants and the environment.
The government currently sets a provisional cap of 50 nanograms per liter for the two representative forms of PFAS, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, or PFOS, and perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA.
None of the samples contained the substances exceeding 50 nanograms in total, but those from three water utilities in Aichi Prefecture, Nagasaki Prefecture, and Hokkaido were found to have between 47 to 49 nanograms of the chemicals, according to the survey.
The ministries conducted the survey between May and September. Results on water supplied exclusively to certain facilities have not been finalized.
In past surveys, cases in which PFAS levels exceeded 50 nanograms came to 11 in fiscal 2020, five in fiscal 2021, four in fiscal 2022, and three in fiscal 2023.
Koji Harada, an associate professor of environmental studies at Kyoto University, said the government should legally require all water utilities to check their water for PFAS and set legally binding upper limits.
© KYODO
19 Comments
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Asiaman7
Would like to hear exactly how these “forever chemicals” are getting into Japan’s drinking water, particularly in places like Hokkaido.
sakurasuki
Don't worry tap water in Japan are drinkable, now you'll get PFAS as a bonus.
sakurasuki
Doing tourism in those places, good luck most of restaurant they just use tap water directly as their water source. I bet those sushi, nabe, udon and soba are delicious.
Peter Neil
from disposable food packaging, furniture, carpet, cook wear.
Peter Neil
human new absorption is declining since manufacturers have been moving away from using them.
kurisupisu
What could be the cause of increasing infertility amongst Japanese-the correlation could be PFAS?
JJE
So, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and "Tokyo Water" turned out to not honest be any measure of what any qualified tester of tap water said... How convenient.
BigP
Locations please! Or at least the worst locations.
didou
I do not think so as this is a forever chemical, even if it spreads furthermore in the environment.
The very good movie Dark Waters released in 2019 relates well the story of the PFOA chemical and the fight to make the chemical company DuPont de Nemours , that developed the chemical, responsible for the damages caused at that time.
Peter Neil
kurisupisuToday 07:06 am JST
not really known.
environmental factors in reduced fertility include chlorinated water, endocrine disrupters, residual pcb’s, pesticides on fruit and vegetables (specific effect on males), herbicides, bpa, increased diabetes rates.
Mr Kipling
I hardly ever drink water except in the middle of summer. Tea, coffee, beer and the odd glass of wine are my hydration. Of course the tea and coffee use tap water, but I haven't had straight water all week. Just not a fan.
JJE
Minamata all over again but on a wider scale. Drink it.
koiwaicoffee
How convenient, just the right amount so the government doesn't need to do a crap about it.
Geeter Mckluskie
We order our water. It's supposed to be natural spring water, however, I'm not confident it's not tap water
didou
does not change much, pfas will be in your tea , coffee, etc
Maybe the only way to escaped is too drink water pumped deeply from underground aquifers that have not been contaminated
WoodyLee
If you live in an industrialized are chances not only your drinking water in contaminated bit the AIR you breath, the SOIL you walk on, the Fish you eat, The vegetables you consume, the playground your kids play in, just about every thing you touch and or consume is contaminated as the air will carry it all around you.
So if you made it passed 70 you are lucky so far, now start planning for the golden years Far Away from all this POISON.
Jennie
I never drink tap water, even while traveling I’d rather order bottled or canned drinks. Quality of water can seriously deter your digestive system and it varies drastically depending on the locations.
WoodyLee
"" We order our water. It's supposed to be natural spring water, however, I'm not confident it's not tap water ""
All water supplied by these companies comes from local springs then some gets treated and filtered , it is NO DIFFERENT than you tap water except now you PAY MORE $$$ for the filtering which may or may not do the job, I suggest you visit the place where your water comes from and see for yourself if they LET YOU,
dbsaiya
Okinawa has been talking about this for over a decade only to fall on deaf ears in Tokyo. It has only now become a thing because the folks in mainland are now directly affected. Even in this article there's no mention of how serious it is on Okinawa.