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Chemical Contamination, Cleanup and Longterm Consequences of Japan's Earthquake and Tsunami

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2025

Winifred Bird  and
Elizabeth Grossman
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Abstract

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Writers Winifred A. Bird and Elizabeth Grossman followed the unfolding Tokohu disaster from their respective offices in Nagano, Japan, and Portland, Oregon. To form a picture of the damage, begin to understand how chemical contaminants and their potential health hazards are being handled after the tsunami, and assess their longterm effects, Bird visited the hard-hit prefectures of Ibaraki, Iwate, and Miyagi, while Grossman researched company and chemical information and how such issues are handled in the United States. While Japanese and international attention has focused on radiation danger associated with the meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi reactors, chemical contamination also promises to significantly impact the region and its ability to recover.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 9 , Issue 31 , August 2011 , e7
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Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2011

References

References and Notes

1. Japan has 47 prefectures, each of which—like a U.S. state—has its own governor, laws, and legislative departments. The prefectures are divided into 8 regions. The Tohoku region, covering the northern tip of Japan's main island of Honshu, bore the brunt of the March 11 disaster. Ibaraki and Chiba prefectures, in the neighboring Kanto region to the south, also were affected.

2. Bird WA. Firsthand observation, Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture (10–13 Apr 2011) [this and subsequent firsthand observations and interviews are unpublished].

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4. As of 28 July 2011 there were 15,642 confirmed deaths and 5,001 missing persons, according to the National Police Agency of Japan. (http://www.npa.go.jp/archive/keibi/biki/higaijokyo_e.pdf)

5. As of 28 July 2011 there were 110,746 totally collapsed, 133,668 half-collapsed, and over 480,000 partially damaged properties, according to the National Police Agency of Japan.

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26. Bird WA. Firsthand observation, Minamisanrikucho, Miyagi Prefecture (14 Apr 2011). Also documented with photos in the 16 Apr 2011 “Onsite Memo” from Minamisanrikucho and Kessennuma, by the Japan Society for Material Cycles and Waste Management Disaster Management and Reconstruction Task Team [in Japanese]. Available: http://tinyurl.com/3hvw9aw [accessed 9 Jun 2011].

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38. Bird WA. Interviews with Tomofumi Miura, Ishinomaki Environment Division (29 Apr 2011), and Shigeyoshi Iwama, Kamaishi Environment Department (28 Apr 2011).

39. Ministry of the Environment, 13 July 2011, “東日本大震災津波堆積物処理指針”

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41. Bird WA. Interviews with Hitoshi Suzuki, Fukushima Prefecture Institute of Environmental Research (2 May 2011), Katsumi Shoji and Hiroyuki Akasaka, Miyagi Prefecture Environment Department (28 Apr 2011), and Noriko Abe, Iwate Environmental Preservation Department (28 Apr 2011).

42. Ministry of the Environment. Overview of the 2011 Supplementary Budget [in Japanese]. Tokyo, Japan: Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan. Available: http://tinyurl.com/6l4nlk7 [accessed 9 Jun 2011].

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44. PDFs in Japanese outlining the results of each category of tests are available on the Environment Ministry's disaster response webpage, under the subheading 「東日本大震災の被災地における環境モニタリング調査について」

45. Information on the possible environmental health threats associated with brominated flame retardants can be found in Linda S. Birnbaum and Daniel F. Staskal's article 2004 article in Environmental Health Perspectives, “Brominated Flame Retardants: Cause for concern?”

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51. Tests were conducted only at limited locations – for instance, at two locations in Kesennuma, four in Minamisanrikucho, and twelve in Ishinomaki – leaving open the possibility that some “hotspots” were not found.

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54. Bird WA. Firsthand observation, Ishinomaki and Minamisanrikucho, Miyagi Prefecture (10–14 Apr 2011).

55. Industrial Safety and Health Act of 1972 (Japan). Article 22, Article 28-2 (1), Article 59 (1). Act No. 57 of 8 Jun 1972. Lawyer Naoki Ikeda said that case law has established that simply providing personal protective equipment or instructing workers to use it is not enough; the employer also needs to make clear the potential health consequences of not using the equipment.

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