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US Air Force’s Kadena base in Japan’s Okinawa prefecture is reportedly contaminating the island’s drinking water, used by almost half a million people.
The base, home to over 20,000 US and Japanese employees, allegedly uses per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a chemical linked to cancers of the kidneys and testicles, high cholesterol, and decreased vaccine response, according to the US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease.
PFAS, which is highly resistant to heat, oil, and water, is mainly used in the production of food wrapping, nonstick cookware, and military firefighting foams, the Diplomat said.
The presence of PFAS in the island’s water was first noticed in 2016 when the Okinawa Prefectural Enterprise Bureau announced that the chemical’s presence is higher in drinking water that comes from a river flowing along the Kadena base, the largest US Air Force installation in the Pacific.
Between February 2014 and November 2015, the bureau detected a maximum of 80 nanograms (30 nanograms on average) PFAS in a liter of tap water, which was 1.5 to 10 times higher than the maximum limit of the chemical acceptable in that amount of water, as per the Japanese government, the Okinawa Times reported.
Read more here. (The Globe Post)
The base, home to over 20,000 US and Japanese employees, allegedly uses per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a chemical linked to cancers of the kidneys and testicles, high cholesterol, and decreased vaccine response, according to the US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease.
PFAS, which is highly resistant to heat, oil, and water, is mainly used in the production of food wrapping, nonstick cookware, and military firefighting foams, the Diplomat said.
The presence of PFAS in the island’s water was first noticed in 2016 when the Okinawa Prefectural Enterprise Bureau announced that the chemical’s presence is higher in drinking water that comes from a river flowing along the Kadena base, the largest US Air Force installation in the Pacific.
Between February 2014 and November 2015, the bureau detected a maximum of 80 nanograms (30 nanograms on average) PFAS in a liter of tap water, which was 1.5 to 10 times higher than the maximum limit of the chemical acceptable in that amount of water, as per the Japanese government, the Okinawa Times reported.
Read more here. (The Globe Post)
