Formaldehyde Update (3): DOWA Hightech Didn't Disclose the Existence of Hexamethylenetetramine in Waste Liquid to the Contractor

Contrary to what it just said yesterday to Tokyo Shinbun, DOWA Hightech apparently admitted to NHK that there was no mention of xxx in the information it had given to the industrial waste processing company that stands accused of dumping the substance in the Tone River tributary, contaminating the drinking water in wide areas along the river system in Kanto.

From NHK Tokyo Metropolitan News's tweet (5/25/2012):

業者に処理を委託した埼玉県本庄市の化学メーカー「ＤＯＷＡハイテック」はＮＨＫの取材に対し、廃棄物処理業者に渡した廃液の成分表にヘキサメチレンテトラミンを記載していなかった事実を認めた上で、「その後、口頭で伝えたかどうか社内調査を進めている」としています。

Speaking to NHK, DOWA Hightech, the chemical company based in Honjo City in Saitama that contracted the company [to process waste liquid that contained hexamethylenetetramine], admitted that the composition table of the waste liquid given to the industrial waste processing company did not include hexamethylenetetramine. DOWA Hightech further said, "The internal investigation is on-going to find out if the information was verbally given to the contractor."

If that is true, DOWA Hightech is in violation of the law that regulates waste management. According to NHK, the police will start investigation of the company.

When radioactive materials are not involved, the Japanese police does move very quickly. The police was there one day after the huge fire at the Mitsui Chemicals petrochemical complex in Yamaguchi Prefecture in April.

More than 14 months since the start of the nuclear accident, there is no police investigation of TEPCO, the plant operator of Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. Instead, the police has been busy guarding the huge residence of Chairman Katsumata in the central Tokyo, and most recently protecting the huge trucks carrying disaster debris in Kitakyushu City against the residents.

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Formaldehyde Update (2): Hexamethylenetetramine Leak from Industrial Waste Processing Co. in Takasaki City, Gunma

The company got the job of disposing the waste that contained hexamethylenetetramine from DOWA Hightech, a major chemical company located in Saitama Prefecture. The industrial waste processing company claims DOWA didn't tell them that there was hexamethylenetetramine in the waste. DOWA says yes they did.

From Tokyo Shinbun (part; 5/25/2012):

利根川水系から取水する首都圏の浄水場で処理済み水道水から有害物質ホルムアルデヒドが検出された問題で群馬県高崎市の産業廃棄物処理施設から原因物質とされるヘキサメチレンテトラミンが利根川支流の烏川（からすがわ）に排出された可能性が高いことが二十五日、埼玉県の調べで分かった。

Concerning the detection of formaldehyde in drinking water the water purification plants in the Tokyo Metropolitan areas along the Tone River and its tributaries, Saitama Prefecture has identified the industrial waste processing facilities in Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture as the likely culprit that leaked hexamethylenetetramine into the Karasugawa River, a tributary of the Tone River.

　埼玉県によると同県本庄市の化学製品会社「ＤＯＷＡハイテック」が今月十日、高崎市の烏川沿いにある産廃業者二社にヘキサメチレンテトラミンを含む廃液の処理を委託した。うち一社は十八日までに約六十トンを処理したが、同社の設備ではヘキサメチレンテトラミンを十分に分解することができず、河川に排出されたとみられる。

According to Saitama Prefecture, the company DOWA Hightech in Honjo City in Saitama contracted two industrial waste processing companies along the Karasugawa River in Takasaki City to process waste liquid that contained hexamethylenetetramine on May 10. One of the companies processed about 60 tonnes of waste liquid by May 18, but the company's facility was not able to adequately break up hexamethylenetetramine, and it was discharged into the river.

　埼玉県は十九日に、この産廃業者への立ち入り検査を実施したが、産廃業者は「ハイテック社からは、ヘキサメチレンテトラミンを含む廃液だとは知らされていなかった」と説明したという。

Saitama Prefecture did the on-site inspection of this company on May 19. The company's explanation was that DOWA Hightech didn't tell them the waste liquid contained hexamethylenetetramine.

　一方、ハイテック社は本紙の取材に「廃液の分析値は示しており、業者が適正な処理をしていれば、ヘキサメチレンテトラミンは取り除かれていたはずだ。ほかの業者への委託でも、これまで問題はなかった。不正の認識はなく、県の調査に協力していきたい」としている。

DOWA Hightech told this newspaper, "We showed them the analysis of the waste liquid. If the company had done the proper processing, hexamethylenetetramine would have been removed. There has been no problem when we contracted other companies. We don't think we've done anything wrong, and we will cooperate with the investigation by the prefecture."

　また、もう一つの産廃業者は高崎市の調査に「群馬県外の別の産廃業者に再委託した」と説明したという。

The other waste processing company told Takasaki City that they had subcontracted an industrial waste processing company outside Gunma Prefecture.

Well, Japan cannot even manage chemical substances, let alone nuclear materials. And the prefectural governments withheld the information of their investigation for six days. Life as usual in Japan, nuclear accident or not.

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Formaldehyde Update: It Was Hexamethylenetetramine in the River Water

so the government ministries (Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of the Environment) say.

Somewhere along the Tone River in Saitama Prefecture or Gunma Prefecture, 0.6 to 4 tonnes of hexamethylenetetramine had been dumped, and it reacted with the chlorine used for the sampling tests at the water purification plants, resulting in formaldehyde.

The popular speculation on the net was that some substance was being irradiated by radioactive materials in the water (plutonium, cesium, strontium were the popular candidates) and turning into formaldehyde. (For more, see my previous post.) I think it is still popular among many people, because "the government lies" as far as they are concerned.

From NHK News (5/24/2012):

利根川水系の水道水から、国の基準を超える化学物質のホルムアルデヒドが検出された問題で、原因となった主な物質は、川に排出された「ヘキサメチレンテトラミン」という化学物質だったことが分かりました。

Concerning the detection of formaldehyde in drinking water from the Tone River and its tributaries exceeding the national safety limit, it has been determined that a chemical substance called "hexamethylenetetramine" that was discharged into the river caused the problem.

この物質を扱っている事業所は埼玉県と群馬県に５か所あり、厚生労働省と環境省はそれぞれの県に対し、２５日にも立ち入り調査するよう求めました。

There are 5 factories that use this substance in Saitama and Gunma Prefectures. The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of the Environment have requested the prefectural governments to conduct on-site investigation as early as May 25.

この問題は、利根川水系の千葉、埼玉、東京、群馬の各自治体が管理する浄水場の水道水から、国の基準を超えるホルムアルデヒドが検出され、一時、断水などの影響が広がったものです。

Formaldehyde exceeding the national safety standard was found from the drinking water at the water purification plants in Chiba, Saitama, Tokyo, and Gunma along the Tone River system. The water supply was temporarily cut off, affecting many residents in municipalities that receive water from these plants.

ホルムアルデヒドは河川の原水からは検出されていないことから、厚生労働省は、原因となる別の化学物質が浄水場で塩素と反応して発生したとみて、原因物質の特定を進めていました。

Formaldehyde was not detected from the river water itself. The Ministry of Health concluded that some substance in the water reacted with chlorine at the purification plants, generating formaldehyde, and proceeded to identify the substance.

その結果、流域の浄水場で採取された水から、「ヘキサメチレンテトラミン」と呼ばれる化学物質が検出され、この水に塩素を加えるとホルムアルデヒドが生成されたということです。

The chemical substance called "hexamethylenetetramine" was detected from the water samples taken at the water purification plants along the river system, and when chlorine was added to the water samples formaldehyde was formed.

このため、厚生労働省は原因となった主な物質はヘキサメチレンテトラミンとみています。

The Ministry of Health concluded that hexamethylenetetramine was the cause.

また、これまでに検出された濃度から、利根川水域に流出したヘキサメチレンテトラミンの量は全体で０．６トンから４トン程度と推定されるということです。

Also, judging from the concentration, the total amount of hexamethylenetetramine discharged into the Tone River system is estimated to be between 0.6 to 4 tonnes.

この物質を年間１トン以上扱っている事業所は、埼玉県に２か所、群馬県に３か所の合わせて５か所あり、厚生労働省と環境省はそれぞれの県に対し、２５日にも立ち入り調査するよう求めました。

There are factories that use this substance more than 1 tonne per year, with 2 in Saitama and 3 in Gunma. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of the Environment have requested the prefectural governments to conduct on-site investigation as early as May 25.

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Source of Formaldehyde in Water Supply in Kanto Still Not Identified, as Water Department Officials Party and "Baseless Rumors" Start to Spread

As the authorities taking ample time acknowledging and identifying the problem of formaldehyde detected at water purification plants along the Tone River that runs through Gunma, Saitama, and Chiba Prefectures, people have started to form their own hypothesis.

First, the timeline of the events: The first detection of formaldehyde may have been on May 15, 4 days before the authorities stopped the water intake. The following timeline is from a popular message board (as quoted by the Portirland blog), so this could also be part of the "baseless rumors". But it has been verified (see Mainichi Shinbun article on 5/19/2012; in Japanese) that the first detection of formaldehyde was on May 15 in Kasukabe City, as this timeline suggests.

• Formaldehyde leaked from a factory sometime, somewhere along the Tone River

• May 15: Formaldehyde detected at the water plant in Kasukabe City in Saitama Prefecture

• May 17: Saitama Prefecture notified the Water Department of Gunma Prefecture of the detection

• May 17 evening: Gunma Water Department had a party (newspaper article copy also at Portirland blog)

• May 18: The news of formaldehyde detection was leaked to the press

• May 19: Some water purification plants stopped water intake, affecting residents and businesses

• May 19 afternoon: Gunma Water Department started investigation

• May 20: Gunma Water Department's partying on May 17 was reported in the press

• May 20: Misato Water Purification Plant in Saitama Prefecture stopped water intake. Gunma Prefecture still cannot identify the source of formaldehyde.

Nature abhors a vacuum, and this information vacuum is being filled by some fantastic stories that circulate on the net in Japan. Here are some I noticed:

• It is an act of sabotage by a foreign element.

• It is not formaldehyde, but it is plutonium.

• It is not formaldehyde, but it is cesium.

• It is not formaldehyde but it is strontium.

• They were using some resin that contains formaldehyde to remove cesium.

• It is not formaldehyde, but something in the water reacted with the reagent (to test the water quality) and turned into formaldehyde.

The last one is supposedly a quote from an unnamed official in a water department of an unnamed city along the Tone River. It looks plausible, but then the blog that quoted this information and people who read the information concluded this "something in the water" must be a radioactive material (plutonium, cesium, strontium, or any other radioactive material of choice).

Sankei Shinbun (5/20/2012) says it will be impossible to identify the source (and therefore it won't be done) because there are hundreds of chemical substances that react and generate formaldehyde. Sankei Shinbun also quotes the partying Gunma Water Department, who says:

「すでに汚染物質の流出は終わった可能性があり、現状では汚染が始まった流域も絞り込めていない」

"It is possible that the flow of the substance that caused contamination has stopped already. At this point, we don't know exactly where the contamination first started."

which is not really true. According the same Sankei article, Saitama Prefecture has narrowed down the source of contamination along the Karasugawa River, a tributary of the Tone River, near Takasaki City in Gunma Prefecture. Instead of partying and hiding the contamination, the Gunma Water Department could have started visiting the factories along the river.

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Formaldehyde in Water Supply in Kanto Region, Water Intake Temporarily Stopped

If it's not radioactive cesium, it's something else like formaldehyde...

Authorities haven't identified the source of formaldehyde, but judging from the density they suspect straight formaldehyde liquid leaking from a plant somewhere in Tochigi Prefecture along the Tone River that runs through Gunma, Saitama, and Chiba Prefectures.

The safety limit for formaldehyde in drinking water is 0.080 milligram/liter.

From Japan Times quoting Kyodo News (5/19/2012):

Formaldehyde found at water plants in Saitama, Chiba

Saitama Prefecture said Friday night it has halted water intake and supply at one of its filtration plants after hazardous formaldehyde exceeding limits was detected in tap water there, while neighboring Chiba Prefecture said it has stopped water intake at two plants after detecting the substance.

The water at the plants was taken from the Tone River and one of its branches, the Edo River, the prefectural governments said.

According to the Saitama prefectural government, more than twice the amount of formaldehyde permitted under national water quality standards was detected in water at its plant in the city of Gyoda.

On Saturday morning, however, the Saitama government said it resumed water intake and supply at the plant after the figures for the substance dropped and remained stably below the standard set by the central government.

The Chiba prefectural government said Friday it has stopped intake at its plants in the cities of Noda and Nagareyama. Early Saturday, it also halted water intake at another plant in the city of Matsudo.

The local governments are now examining the water quality upstream of the Tone River with cooperation from Gunma Prefecture, where the upstream water is located, to identify the source of the contamination, they said.

Formaldehyde could be generated by a combination of organic substances included in the drainage from chemical plants and chlorine, according to the governments.

As with radioactive cesium in food, the Japanese authorities are repeating the mantra that "there is no effect on health" even if you drank the formaldehyde-laced water.

NHK Update: 68,000 households in Nagareyama City in Chiba Prefecture are without water to their homes, as of 2PM on May 19, 2012. 46,000 households in Noda City and 35,000 households in Abiko City in Chiba are also without water. The so-called "tokatsu" region of Chiba (northwestern corner of the prefecture) along the Tone River is hit hard.

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