Daikin Industries Yodogawa Plant

Daikin Industries has finally admitted that workers at its Yodogawa Plant in Settsu City, Osaka Prefecture, were exposed to high levels of PFOA, 500 to 50,000 times the national average blood levels.

Tansa obtained a recording of an information session held by Daikin on September 8, 2025. The session was for some residents living near the factory. Satoshi Komatsu, manager of Daikin’s Chemical Business Division, explained that employees had been exposed to high levels of PFOA.

Daikin has not disclosed the high levels of exposure among its employees until now.

Why have they now publicly acknowledged that employees have been exposed to high levels of PFOA?

Manager Komatsu said this at the public information session.

“At the time, we were unable to confirm that even among our employees with four-digit or five-digit concentration, there were any health effects, so to be honest, we felt a sense of relief.”

As of 2021, a research team at Kyoto University found PFOA in the blood of residents at levels approximately 70 times higher than in non-contaminated areas. Since then, more and more cases of high exposure among residents have been discovered, raising concerns. And Manager Komatsu is saying, there is no need to worry because in contrast, factory workers are not experiencing health effects even when exposed to levels 500 to 50,000 times the average.

But this is a sophistry.

High exposure to employees was predicted 25 years ago

How contradictory are Manager Komatsu’s remarks?

In 2020, the highest levels of PFOA in Japan were detected in groundwater near the Yodogawa Plant. This was the result of a nationwide survey conducted by the Ministry of the Environment. In 2021, Professor Emeritus Akio Koizumi of Kyoto University and his colleagues conducted blood tests on nearby residents and found that the highest levels of PFOA were 70 times higher than in non-contaminated areas.

Wouldn’t those who worked in the facility be exposed to far higher amounts if this were the case outside?

Just as they were thinking this, in April 2022, Tansa obtained confidential Daikin documents that revealed that Daikin had foreseen employee exposure to PFOA.

“In areas where powder is handled, especially where PFOA is extracted in powder form, the measured concentrations will be high and exposure will be an issue.”

The document was created in 2000, meaning that Daikin had foreseen employees’ exposure to high levels of PFOA a quarter of a century ago.

How did Daikin respond after predicting this? Was there actually high exposure? What about health effects? Daikin answered to Tansa’s questions as follows:

“We know the health status of past PFOA workers during annual health checkups, and no health effects attributable to PFOA have been found.”

This is unclear. It doesn’t seem that regular company health checkups can detect the health effects of PFOA. They haven’t even answered whether there was high exposure to PFOA.

In June 2022, Tansa interviewed executives and employees at Daikin’s headquarters in Osaka. One of them was Satoshi Komatsu, manager of the Chemical Business Division. This is where Komatsu began to stray.

“We haven’t examined everyone.”

When asked about the period in which the health examinations were conducted, Daikin responded, “From 2003 to 2015, when we stopped producing PFOA.”

This is strange, because it suggests that no surveys have been conducted since 2016. Many of the health effects of PFOA, such as cancer and lung disease, develop over time. It is impossible to assert that there are no health effects when surveys have not been conducted.

What kind of health surveys were conducted up until 2015, then? In order to examine the health effects of PFOA, it is essential to measure the exposure status of employees and then examine the diseases caused by PFOA, which are internationally established. Were these surveys conducted?

“We cannot say.”

Why can’t they say it?

“It’s personal information about employees.”

We are well aware that personal information cannot be disclosed. Even when we pressed them to disclose the number of people exposed and the results of the exposure concentration, they responded, “We conducted the examination on the assumption that such information would not be disclosed.”

However, it is hard to believe that the examination was conducted on the premise that even general data would not be disclosed. Did the company submit a written pledge to its employees?

“We did not submit it.”

How did they tell employees that they wouldn’t even disclose the general data then?

“I (Manager Komatsu) explained it verbally to each employee.”

Is that true? Did Manager Komatsu explain this to everyone who was going to be examined?

“Not everyone.”

Is this the response from a company that was once one of the world’s eight largest manufacturers of PFOA? It’s extremely irresponsible.

Manager Komatsu “Is PFOA dangerous?”

They don’t seem to care about the health of their employees.

In 2000, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the need for further research into the effects of PFOA on the human body. 3M, a U.S. company and one of the world’s top eight manufacturers, stopped producing the substance in 2002 due to its potential danger to the human body.

However, Daikin only stopped production in 2015, despite having prepared a confidential document in 2000 that predicted high exposure among employees.

When pressed on this point, Manager Komatsu was unable to give a proper answer.

“Well, as for what year we became aware of the danger, well, I don’t know.”

This is ridiculous. When I asked him, “Why do you not know? Please bring someone who does,” Manager Komatsu asked me a question in return.

“Is PFOA dangerous?”

In contrast to Daikin’s irresponsible treatment of its own employees, a research team consisting of researchers from Kyoto University and doctors reported on the health damage suffered by Daikin employees in the occupational health scientific journal “Industrial Health” in April 2025.

The research revealed that three PFOA factory workers had symptoms of interstitial lung disease, which reduces respiratory function. The three had extremely high blood PFOA concentrations, and all had experience working in PFOA production at Daikin’s Yodogawa Plant.

The research team warned:

“Like mesothelial tumors caused by asbestos, interstitial lung disease develops more than 20 years after exposure to PFOA. The health damage to workers will go beyond 5 or 10.”

Residents’ information session attended by less than 20 people

Daikin was the one that was cornered. When Tansa questioned about the paper published by researchers from Kyoto University and doctors, the Public Relations Group of Daikin’s Corporate Communications Department sent the following response:

“We were not involved in the creation of the paper in question and are not familiar with the details of its analytical methods or accuracy, so we will refrain from commenting on this series of questions.”

It is obvious they are not involved in writing the paper. They probably just want to avoid scientific controversy.

Meanwhile, Daikin held a public information session at 7 p.m. on September 8, 2025. It was not open to all nearby residents who wished to attend, but was only open to those who were members of the agricultural council in the Hitotsuya district, where the Yodogawa Plant is located. With less than 20 attendees, it was clear that the intention was to subtly calm the residents who were growing more and more concerned.

“We measured the blood tests of our employees back in 2000,” said Manager Komatsu, confiding:

“At the time, the concentration of the employees’ blood was in the four and five digits.”

“The biggest concern for us, the employees and the local community, was the possibility of pretty high blood levels.”

The Ministry of the Environment’s national average blood PFOA concentration (for fiscal year 2023) is 2.1ng/mL. U.S. government guidelines state that levels of 20ng/mL or higher require “treatment which must take into account risks such as kidney cancer, testicular cancer, ulcerative colitis, and thyroid disease is necessary.”

“Four or five digits” refers to “1,000ng/mL or more but less than 100,000ng/mL.” Compared to the national average, this is 500 to 50,000 times higher. This corresponds to the 50 to 5,000 times higher U.S. guidelines, which require treatment based on the risk of cancer and other conditions.

Nonetheless, Manager Komatsu stated:

“At the time, we were unable to confirm that even among our employees with four-digit or five-digit concentration, there were any health effects, so to be honest, we felt a sense of relief.”

The company is now disclosing the high levels of exposure among its employees, which it had previously kept secret, to say that residents can rest assured because there have been no health effects.

However, as explained above, the examination of the health damage on employees was poorly conducted. In contrast, a research team consisting of researchers from Kyoto University and doctors identified health effects and published the results in a scientific paper.

Daikin: “We will refrain from responding to anyone other than those involved”

Manager Komatsu’s explanation is not convincing, and residents continue to voice their doubts.

Nonetheless, about an hour and a half into the information session, Daikin announced that it would end the session due to time constraints.

Tansa sent a letter of inquiry to Daikin.

You said that you were unable to confirm any health damage to employees who were found to have PFOA concentrations in the four or five digits, but how did you confirm that there were no health damages? Please give us a specific answer.

Daikin’s response is as follows:

Currently, much remains unknown about the health effects of PFOA accumulation in the human body. We are continuing to consider our response through dialogue with residents living near the Yodogawa Plant.

 

As part of this, we held a public information session for members of the Hitotsuya Agricultural Council in Settsu City on September 8, 2025. However, as the purpose of this session was to engage in dialogue with residents, we will refrain from answering questions or other comments made at the session to anyone other than those involved.

 

Public Relations Group, Corporate Communications Department, Daikin Industries, Ltd.

“An information session for all residents”

At the end of the information session, one resident made the following request:

“All the residents in the surrounding area are worried about the health damages. Are you willing to hold an information session for all residents?”

Manager Komatsu replied, “In a nutshell, we are positively considering it.”

The contamination at the Yodogawa Plant has spread over a wide area, including Osaka City. They cannot escape the responsibility as a polluter by providing only a few residents with partial information. Fair and transparent measures must be taken to address PFOA pollution.

In fact, in the United States, Daikin was sued by residents and the water authority over PFOA contamination, and in 2018 it settled the case by paying $4 million, which was also used to cover the costs of removing PFOA from drinking water.

(Originally published in Japanese on September 11, 2025. Translation by Mana Shibata.)

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