PCB News

NIGHTMARE OF TAINTED OIL IN 1960S CONTINUES

KITA-KYUSHU-Toshizo and Takiko's secret lives started 35 years ago after their faces turned black, a rash covered their bodies, and their eyes became yellowish and covered with mucus.

They were victims of the world's first-and most serious-food-poisoning case involving polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB).

Toshizo and Takiko, who now live in Kita-Kyushu and asked that their last name not be printed, were among thousands of residents in western Japan who used tainted rice-bran cooking oil made by Kanemi Soko Co. in the late 1960s.

Consumers of the oil complained of health problems from 1968. Even after 35 years, victims still suffer from severe skin disease, numbness, lethargy and other symptoms.

Toshizo, 74, demonstrated what victims have had to put up with. When he squeezed his buttock, a sticky white liquid about a centimeter long oozed from an indentation. The liquid smelled like rancid butter.

"This is the oil," Toshizo said. "We have become accustomed to this smell."

His wife, Takiko, 73, pinched a black growth behind her husband's ear. The same white liquid oozed out.

The couple's bodies are also covered with small holes.

Scientists determined that cooking oil produced by Kanemi Soko had been contaminated by PCBs used in a heat-transfer mechanism manufactured by Kaneka Corp.

Government sluggishness added to the misery of the victims.

Thousands went to doctors complaining about health problems and about 14,000 people filed complaints about the oil to the government. But the government officially recognized only 1,867 as victims of the oil poisoning. In the past decade only one new victim has been certified.

Takiko bought the cooking oil because she had heard that the oil made fried foods extra crispy. Her three children were all in elementary school at the time. One of their favorite dishes was tempura.

After it became known that PCBs had contaminated the cooking oil, Takiko's second son blamed his mother.

"Mom, why did you have to feed us that stuff?" the son asked.

The symptoms started showing up in the family of five in the spring of 1968.

The family moved a decade after the oil-poisoning outbreak. They did not want neighbors to know that they had all suffered from the poisoning.

But the symptoms continued. Toshizo constantly heard the sound of a motor buzzing in his head. He could not stand the changes in his work place toward office automation and quit three years later.

All three of their children married and have kids of their own. However, only the oldest son has informed his spouse of the family's history of oil poisoning.

For Toshizo and Takiko, all they can do now is pray to live as long as possible. Takiko now suffers from a heart condition and Toshizo is still bothered by the motor sound.

Courts have not been that sympathetic to the plight of the food-poisoning victims.

After decades of legal proceedings, 1,896 plaintiffs, including Toshizo and Takiko, who sued for compensation ended up with just 220,000 yen each from Kanemi Soko as a lump-sum payment and 3 million yen each from Kaneka as condolence money.

Further study into the symptoms suffered by victims led scientists to point to a type of dioxin called polychlorinated dibenzofuran as being the more toxic and likely cause of the various health problems.

Such studies have prompted government officials to revise health standards for certifying victims of the oil poisoning. Dioxin levels in the victims' blood will be included from next year.

Currently, PCB levels are the main factor in determining if an individual should be certified as a victim of oil poisoning.

Masazumi Harada, a professor at Kumamoto Gakuen University who has spent years studying victims of mercury poisoning at Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, said a more comprehensive approach should have been taken with the victims of the PCB- tainted oil.

While he welcomed the government decision to include dioxin levels as a standard for certifying new victims, he added that such a standard alone would not help doctors grasp the full nature of the problems associated with the oil poisoning.

"The symptoms of the oil poisoning affect the entire human body and the health damage should be considered as a whole," Harada said.

He also criticized the central government for its lax policy.

"Since the oil-poisoning case is one example of a serious dioxin contamination, the victims represent a valuable source for study," he said. "Contamination by dioxin in small doses has become a global problem. In that sense, the data of those individuals who have not been certified as oil- poisoning victims are the most important. Japan could have contributed to advancing knowledge about such contamination if the victims had been studied more closely, but it decided to ignore the problem at its most important stage."

Copyright 2003 Asahi News Service