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Yokkaichi asthma

Coordinates: 34°57′54.1″N 136°37′27.9″E / 34.965028°N 136.624417°E / 34.965028; 136.624417
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Location
Yokkaichi asthma is located in Japan
Yokkaichi asthma
LocationYokkaichi
CountryJapan
Coordinates34°57′54.1″N 136°37′27.9″E / 34.965028°N 136.624417°E / 34.965028; 136.624417

Yokkaichi asthma (四日市ぜんそく, Yokkaichi zensoku) refers to cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic bronchitis, pulmonary emphysema, and bronchial asthma in humans and various environmental changes usually attributed to sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions which appeared as smog over the city of Yokkaichi in Mie Prefecture, Japan, between 1960 and 1972, though other SOx compounds have been proposed. The generally accepted source of the sulfur oxide pollution was the Yokkaichi Kombinato petrochemical processing facilities and refineries built in Yokkaichi between 1959 and 1972 which did not properly desulfurize the high sulfur content in its crude oil. Yokkaichi asthma is considered one of the Four Big Pollution Diseases of Japan and was the subject of Japan's first court case related to pollution.[1] [2] [3]

Cause


Sulfur dioxide, a toxic gas found in high concentrations in the air of Yokkaichi and initially believed to be the cause of the asthma cases.

All clinical cases of Yokkaichi asthma began after the establishment of the oil refinery and petroleum chemical plants in 1959.[4]

Complaints from citizens of offensive odors spurred investigation. Initially, the suspected sources of the odors included SO2, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), methylmercaptan, aldehydes, and other substances found to be leaking from the factories.[3] However, sulfur dioxide emitted from the combustion of high sulfur content oil has typically been attributed as the cause of the disease since the beginning.

Despite common belief that SO2 was the main source of the asthma, by investigating sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide levels in Yokkaichi and analyzing compound toxicity levels, a study conducted in 1984 from Yokohama National University concluded that respiratory diseases were not a result of sulfur dioxide, but rather due to a titanium oxide manufacturing plant venting concentrated sulfuric acid mists downwind onto populated urban areas. The high concentration of Yokkaichi asthma patients in Isozu Village can be farther accounted for under this conclusion, as the source of sulfur trioxide emissions is 2 kilometers south of the most effected population.[5] A 2001 study by several researchers in the Environmental Management journal confirmed by analyzing the effects of SO2 and SO3 on humans that SO3 was likely the real cause of the asthma. They farther propose that one of the reasons flue-gas desulfurization implementation did not lead to the disappearance of all cases was due to differences in SO2 and SO3 cleanup.[6]

Symptoms

Beginning shortly after the opening of the first complex in 1959, severe cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic bronchitis, pulmonary emphysema, and bronchial asthma rose quickly among the local inhabitants, particularly in the Isozu and Shiohama districts which were closest to the factories, and among males over 50.[3][4] Other chronic symptoms included sore throat.[2] Symptoms showed some relief when sufferers left areas of high air pollution. By 1964, Isozu Village, which was most effected, had 2.5% of the population exhibiting symptoms.[7][5] A 2008 study by researchers from the Mie University Graduate School of Medicine and the Hiroshima University Natural Science Center for Basic Research and Development indicated a 10- to 20-fold higher mortality rate as a result of COPD and asthma in the affected populations of Yokkaichi versus the general population of Mie Prefecture.[8] Several asthma victims committed suicide, such as Kihira Usaburou, with some writing suicide notes attributing their deaths to the disease.[9]

For one 40-year-old Yokkaichi asthma sufferer reported in Respiratory Medicine Case Reports journal, Symptoms showed relief when treated using a vibrating mesh nebulizer. [8]

A class action court case was brought against Showa Yokkaichi Oil and initially adjudicated in September 1970. The class was ruled to contain 544 individuals, but that number has increased over the ensuing years.[10][11]

Initial attempts to alleviate the problem by raising the height of smokestacks to disperse the pollutants over a larger area proved ineffective. Eventually flue-gas desulfurization was implemented on a large scale, leading to an improvement in the health of local populace.

Yokkaichi asthma has been identified in rapidly industrializing areas in the rest of the world, including Mexico City and mainland China.[12][13]

References

  1. ^ Yokkaichi Asthma. Environmental Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  2. ^ a b Avenell, Simon (2017). Transnational Japan in the Global Environmental Movement. University of Hawaii Press.
  3. ^ a b c "Approaches to Air pollution Control (Case Study-1) Yokkaichi City, Mie prefecture". International Center for Environmental Technology Transfer. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  4. ^ a b Yoshida, Katsumi; Oshima, Hidehiko; Imai, Masayuki (1964). "Air Pollution in Yokkaichi Area with Special Regards to the Problem of 'Yokkaichi-Asthma'". Industrial Health. 2:2: 87–94. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  5. ^ a b Kitagawa, Tetsuzo (1984). "Cause Analysis of the Yokkaichi Asthma Episode in Japan". Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association. 34:7: 743–746. doi:10.1080/00022470.1984.10465807.
  6. ^ Kikuchi, Ryunosuke (2001). "Environmental Management of Sulfur Trioxide Emission: Impact of SO3 on Human Health". Environmental Management. 27: 837–844.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference EJA_Yokkaichi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b Guo, Peng; Yokoyama, Kazuhito; Suenaga, Masami; Kida, Hirotaka (2008). "Mortality and life expectancy of Yokkaichi Asthma patients, Japan: Late effects of air pollution in 1960–70s". Environmental Health. 7: 8. doi:10.1186/1476-069X-7-8. PMC 2311286. PMID 18302742.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) Cite error: The named reference "guoyokoyama3" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  9. ^ Walker, Brett L. (2010). Toxic Archipelago: A history of industrial disease in Japan. University of Washington Press.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Industrial Pollution Control Measure in Yokkaichi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Kawamura, Hiroki (2018). "The relation between law and technology in Japan: liability for technology-related mass damage in the cases of Minamata disease, asbestos, and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster". Contemporary Japan. 30 (1): 3–27. doi:10.1080/18692729.2018.1423459.
  12. ^ "Asthma on the rise in Asia due to mounting urbanisation, pollution". TerraDaily.com. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  13. ^ "Mexico City's dirty truth". BBC. 11 February 2002. Retrieved 1 April 2010.

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