Unexpected asbestos discovery occurs in Japan

Unexpected tremolite discovery in Japan

Japan - It has been discovered that three more facilities in Tokyo have been affected by tremolite, a type of asbestos that was never thought to have been used in Japan.

Tremolite, along with actinolite and anthophyllite, are three highly carcinogenic types of asbestos that were believed not to be present in the country. All three types were found earlier this month after municipal government officials conducted surveys at eight public facilities in Niigata, Chiba, and Tokyo. Tremolite is believed to contain a level of carcinogen nearly equal to crocidolite, the most carcinogenic type of asbestos.

When doing any construction work on a building, companies are required by law to check for asbestos. However, it has been common for inspection companies to leave out these three types from the list of asbestos types to check for because it was widely believed that they did not exist in Japan.

The three newly discovered incidents, which occurred at a private nursery school in December 2006, a condominium in May 2007, and an office buildling in August 2007, were not included with the eight buildings in the finding reported this month.

The inspections at the three facilities were performed by foreign-affiliated companies that followed U.S. procedures, which involves inspecting for all six varieties of asbestos.

The Japanese ministry reports that the number of buildings that contain asbestos in their infrastructure that require demolition or repair increases each year. The largest spikes will occur between 2020 and 2040.

**For a FREE information packet including treatments, clinical trials, and specialists, please complete the form above or call a Mesothelioma Web coordinator at 1-877-367-6376.

News

Resources

If you would like to receive a FREE information packet or have questions about mesothelioma, call us at:

Toll-Free 1-877-367-6376