Regarding the chemical substance ``PFAS'', when the Tokyo Metropolitan Government investigated the extinguishing agents in parking lots and office buildings owned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, it found that 30 facilities had installed extinguishing agents that contained substances that were considered to be harmful. I understand that.
"PFAS" is a general term for organic fluorine compounds, and some substances such as "PFOS" and "PFOA" were once used in a wide range of applications such as fire extinguishing foam due to their water and oil repellent properties, but they are hazardous. This has been pointed out, and the country is regulating it by setting provisional target values for water quality.
Under these circumstances, in December last year, someone activated the fire extinguishing equipment installed in a multi-storey parking lot in Machida City, and fire extinguishing foam containing PFOS flowed into a nearby river, causing the river water to reach national target levels. A value greater than .
In response to this, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government conducted an emergency investigation to determine whether extinguishing agents containing PFOS were installed in all Tokyo facilities, and found that fire extinguishing agents containing PFOS were installed in a total of 30 facilities, including parking lots and office buildings in Tokyo. I found out that it was.
The Tokyo metropolitan government used to replace products if they were found to contain regulated substances, but based on the latest results, they are proceeding with replacements.
In addition, in order to promote replacement at private facilities, we have included approximately 230 million yen in the budget proposal for the new fiscal year, 2020, to subsidize some of the costs.
Machida, Tokyo Fire extinguishing agent containing PFOS was sprinkled and leaked into the river
In Machida City, Tokyo, in December last year, someone activated the fire extinguishing equipment at a municipal multi-storey parking lot and sprayed fire extinguishing foam containing PFOS, which has been pointed out to be harmful.
According to the city, the fire extinguishing foam contained between 8 and 1.6 liters of PFOS, and when it was washed away, it flowed out of the drainage ditch into the nearby Sakai River.
In response, the city tested the river's water quality and detected 810 nanograms and 190 nanograms of PFOS at two locations downstream, far exceeding the country's provisional target of 50 nanograms per liter. about it.
The fire extinguishing equipment is a system that releases fire extinguishing foam from above through a pipe installed in the ceiling.In addition to being activated automatically when a fire is detected, the fire extinguishing equipment is also a sealed system that can be activated manually by a person who notices a fire. A lever is also installed in the parking lot.
This fire extinguishing foam was installed when the parking lot was built in 1980, before PFOS was regulated, and will be replaced with one that does not contain PFOS when the aging parking lot is rebuilt next year. That is what I was planning to do.
A man in his 80s who lives near a parking lot said, ``If there was a factory nearby, I would know there was a chemical leak, but it's a parking lot, so I'm surprised.There isn't much information about PFAS, so I would like to know more.'' I was talking.
A woman in her 50s said, ``If it's necessary in the event of a fire, there are some things you can do about it, but I don't think you should just put it out.It's best if you have something that won't cause any harm, so that's better.'' ” he said.
A mother in her 20s with a 2-year-old child said, ``I'm scared that the river water contained harmful substances.I would appreciate it if they would do more research and remove harmful substances from the area as much as possible.'' Ta.
Expert: “Replacement with one that does not emit PFOS is an urgent issue”
Associate Professor Koji Harada of Kyoto University's Graduate School, who is familiar with the PFAS issue, said, ``Many old fire extinguishing foams installed in multi-storey parking lots contain PFOS, and many of them still remain. PFOS itself is a substance that does not deteriorate, but fire extinguishing equipment does deteriorate, so when malfunctions occur due to aging, cases of fire extinguishing foam containing PFOS leaking have been reported across the country. points out.
He added, ``We need to consider that there is always a risk of spills even in our immediate surroundings, and that this could potentially affect water sources.In multi-story parking lots, etc., it is mandatory to install fire extinguishing equipment depending on the size. However, there is not an adequate system for exchanging extinguishing agents, and some extinguishing agents have been left in place since they were first installed, so it is an urgent issue to quickly replace them with ones that do not emit PFOS. '' he said.