February 3, 2023

Japanese Communist Party members of the House of Councilors Kira Yoshiko and Yamazoe Taku on February 2 inspected a Tokyo-run water supply facility in Western Tokyo, known as the Tama region, where per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been detected in well water and tap water.

At the facility, the JCP lawmakers received an explanation from a Tokyo government official. According to the official, PFAS exceeding the allowable national environmental limit of 50 nanograms per liter of water were found in a well at the facility. The facility then stopped using the well.

The Tama region consists of 30 municipalities including five cities and one town that host the U.S. Yokota base.

After the visit, Yamazoe stressed the need to determine the cause of the water pollution without delay by investigating potential contamination sources such as the Yokota base. He added that in order to ease local people’s concern about the health impact of PFAS, he will urge the central government to conduct a survey on PFAS pollution and health damage and to establish health-based standards for PFAS in drinking water.