“For water, air, and children – Protecting the environment of the future through activated carbon,” written on the exterior wall of Man-ei Industry (photo by Nanami Nakagawa on June 24, 2024)

Kibichuo Town, Okayama Prefecture, is a highland city rich in nature. A year has passed since the town, which does not have any PFOA factories, became the town with the most contaminated tap water in the country with PFOA.

The source of contamination is activated carbon containing PFOA.

A local business called Man-ei Industry received activated carbon that had absorbed PFOA from businesses outside the town. The activated carbon was left at a materials storage yard by Man-ei Industry. PFOA gradually seeped into the dam, the water supply, from the activated carbon. In the last year, the dam’s PFOA concentration increased from 28 times the national guideline to 32 times it. This water is still flowing downstream.

The residents had been consuming tap water contaminated with PFOA without knowing anything about it. After the contamination was discovered, some residents felt uneasy and sought out testing institutions to have their blood tested. High levels of PFOA were detected in all 27 people, including a two-year-old child.

The PFOA pollution in Kibichuo Town could have happened anywhere in Japan. This is because PFOA should be removed from the environment, but neither the government nor companies accept responsibility for cleaning it up. Which company’s PFOA-containing activated carbon was brought into Kibichuo Town? Even that is still unknown.

Why is activated carbon containing PFOA, which should be eliminated, not disposed of and instead traded between companies? There is a “deception” involved in recycling activated carbon.

According to the Ministry of the Environment’s guidelines

There are some important points to keep in mind regarding PFOA.

That is that an international treaty was enacted in 2019 to abolish it. The reason is that it has adverse effects on the human body, including carcinogenicity, and is highly persistent. In response to this, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in Japan also made a law banning its manufacture and import in 2021.

Nonetheless, METI is not involved in the “cleanup” of PFOA. Instead, it is the responsibility of the Ministry of the Environment.

The Ministry of the Environment conducted a survey of the actual state of contamination of rivers and groundwater across the country. PFOA is highly persistent. Even if production ceases, it will continue to exist unless it is disposed of. The survey revealed that PFOA, which had already been discharged from factories, was detected throughout the country.

In 2022, the Ministry of the Environment published guidelines for disposing of PFOA-containing materials.

The guidelines indicate that PFOA should be treated at high temperatures of over 1,100°C. Among many chemical substances, PFOA is one of the most difficult to decompose. It will not disappear in incinerators (800°C to 1,000°C) that are used for general waste such as household garbage. It can only be removed from the environment by “melting” it rather than “burning” it.

Several furnaces in Japan can reach temperatures of more than 1100℃

Activated carbon is used to adsorb chemicals contained in water, including PFOA, and is used in factories and water purification plants that handle PFOA.

As stipulated in the Ministry of the Environment’s guidelines, activated carbon that has adsorbed PFOA must be disposed of by burning at temperatures of 1,100°C or higher.

However, used activated carbon is rarely disposed of according to the guidelines. Why?

The reason is that there are only a limited number of facilities in Japan that can perform high-temperature treatment at temperatures above 1,100°C, and the costs are high.

Across the nation, there are more than 1,000 general trash incinerators with temperatures ranging from 800°C to 1,000°C. Only a small number of incinerators, however, are capable of reaching temperatures above 1,100°C. The facility’ structure differs from that of typical garbage facilities due to the exceptionally high temperatures. Additionally, compared to a facility for general waste, the cost is higher.

“Moving” it, not “disposing of it”

That being said, businesses that have activated carbon that has absorbed PFOA cannot continue to store it themselves.

A method often used in this case is activated carbon recycling.

Because they are recycled, they are considered “materials” no “waste.” Therefore, the Ministry of the Environment’s guidelines on waste disposal are not applicable.

The problem, however, is that the recycling process does not reduce PFOA in the environment.

What does that mean?

The method used to recycle PFOA-containing activated carbon is called “activation treatment,” which involves treating it with heat or chemicals to remove the adsorbed substances, returning it to a state where it can adsorb chemicals again.

Nevertheless, PFOA cannot be eliminated unless it is burned at temperatures above 1,100°C. Only the PFOA is extracted from the activated carbon by activation treatment; the PFOA will then re-enter the environment.

In other words, PFOA is simply being moved around rather than disposed of.

If it is treated at high temperature 

Man-ei Industry abandoned PFOA-containing activated carbon in Kibichuo Town without any activation treatment, which allowed PFOA to leak from the activated carbon and contaminate the water source.

Nonetheless, Man-ei Industry is not solely responsible.

If the companies that provided Man-ei Industry with PFOA-containing activated carbon had disposed of it at temperatures above 1,100°C without requesting recycling, the current contamination would not have occurred.

Companies that have been identified as trading used activated carbon with Man-ei Industry include major activated carbon manufacturers Kuraray and Osaka Gas Chemicals.

Both companies said it was unlikely they had provided the activated carbon that caused the contamination, according to Tansa’s inquiry.

However, a thorough investigation should be conducted if there is even the remotest chance that they could have been the source of the contamination.

In Kobe and Kyoto

Unless we get serious about cleaning up PFOA-containing materials the source of contamination will move to another location and spread, far from eliminating them.

In fact, contamination has occurred in other areas besides Kibichuo Town. In Nishi Ward, Kobe City, and Ayabe City, Kyoto Prefecture, contamination due to improper disposal of PFOA-containing waste has been found.

Tansa will continue to cover the issue in order to put an end to the “never ending PFOA contamination.” We will continue to update the “Kibichuo, Okayama Edition” from time to time.

(Originally published in Japanese on October 29, 2024. Translation by Mana Shibata.)

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