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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]

In 1960, those living in Isozu complained to Yokkaichi officials about noise from the factories and sickness caused by the chemicals, but they were ignored. Children were advised by teachers in Mihana Primary School to avoid breathing as much as possible. When the fishing industries in Yokkaichi began to collapse in spring 1960, the government finally issued a 100 million yen settlement that was to be divided up and distributed by Yokkaichi fishing unions. This settlement did nothing about the source of pollution.[9] In August 1960, The Yokkaichi City Environmental Pollution Control Measures Committee was organized by the city of Yokkaichi prompted by farther citizen complaints. The committee found that the Isozu district had six times the SO2 content in air of the rest of Yokkaichi and concluded that the asthma would likely cause an increase in mortality rate.[3] They found that children suffered the most, and that about half of the children in Isozu district suffered from the disease.[9]

When the pollution did not stop, angry fishermen from Isozu upset with the government's lack of action attempted to plug an industrial drainpipe belonging to Mie electric company with sandbags. To prevent the fishermen from doing so, the company increased emissions and a fight broke out between those working for the company and the fishermen that had to be defused by local officials. This incident led to investigations in Yokkaichi by the national government.[9]

The national government sent out investigators with the issue of the Special Survey Council on Yokkaichi Area Air Pollution in 1963, and they concluded their report in March 1964.[3] Meanwhile, the government offered more compensation to fishermen following findings in 1965. Through the survey council's investigation Yokkaichi became an official target area of the 1968 Soot and Smoke Regulation Law. However, SO2 air pollution did not decrease, most notable through the suicide of confection shop owner Outani Kazuhiko, who wrote a note blaming the bad air for his death.[9] Through this law, taller smokestacks were built, but they simply spread the pollution over a wider area and did not help alleviate the health issues.[3] In 1965, the local government offered more compensation to fishermen following Special Survey Council on Yokkaichi Area Air Pollution findings in what would become the world's first public-relief system for pollution victims.[9] For the first year, this was financed by the local government, but was financed by the national government's treasury in its second year.[10]

Isozu district Yokkaichi Asthma sufferers filed a civil suit against companies with ties to Showa Yokkaichi Oil's Petrochemical Complex No. 1 in 1967 which would go on to become Japan's first court trial related to pollution. The trial ended in 1972 in favor of the plaintiffs, ruling that the company had committed negligence.[3] After the trial, the local Yokkaichi government requested that the city be considered a target area for the 1968 Soot and Smoke Regulation Law. The 1968 Air Pollution Control Law led to the implementation of a flue-gas desulfurization processes for all emissions, which gradually led to health improvement in the local populace.[3]

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 d e f g h "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. ^ a b c d e f Walker, Brett L. (2010). Toxic Archipelago: A history of industrial disease in Japan. University of Washington Press.
  10. ^ "Mortality and life expectancy of Yokkaichi Asthma patients, Japan: Late effects of air pollution in 1960–70s". Environ Health. Retrieved 14 April 2020.

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