Detection of the Most Pernicious Toxin: Thorough Investigation Responsibility of Japanese and US Governments

Just a year and four months ago in the residues of drums discovered in a soccer field in Okinawa, Japan, which was once part of the Kaneda Air Base of the U.S., the most pernicious of any dioxin substance was detected in high concentration. The U.S. military has been too irresponsible in not trying to investigate who buried what there. And by its glaring inaction, the same share of blame should be apportioned to the Japanese government. It is a smack in the face of Okinawans that Japan doesn’t give a hoot about their lives and health. Both governments should undertake an immediate, comprehensive and thorough investigation.

The substance was found to be 2,3,7,8-TCDD, both highly teratogenic and carcinogenic. Since hardly any trace of another defoliant known as 2,4-D was detected, we can rule out, for now at least, the notorious Agent Orange. But we could conceivably be dealing with Agents Pink and Green, the most toxic of eight defoliants deployed by the U.S. in Vietnam.

Hideaki Miyata, one of the foremost dioxin researchers and professor emeritus of Setsunan University, analyzed the results of an investigation conducted by Okinawa City as part of the soccer field research and review project by Citizens’ Network for Biodiversity in Okinawa. This analysis was made public thanks to the efforts of a citizen group. Given that the soccer field was formerly part of a U.S. military base, is it too preposterous to wonder if this shouldn’t have been conducted by the governments of the U.S. and Japan?

Dioxins don’t dissolve in soil; they remain stable for a long time. That’s why they are still found, even after 50 years, as in this case. Drums decompose, so it is conceivable that they have been buried in other containers in which case they would easily elude metal detectors. As Miyata points out, both governments should conduct meticulous, equally spaced boring searches, also vertically.

Agents Pink and Orange were used in the first half of the Vietnam War as defoliants, and in the second half, Agent Orange was mainly used. Seventy percent of defoliants used in Vietnam were Agent Orange. Trying to downplay the issue, the U.S. and Japan insist that only Agent Orange was a defoliant; others were merely herbicides.

It is a minor quibble whether or not the substance in question is Agent Orange; rather, the issue here is that a most vicious toxin has been detected. Isn’t a thorough investigation the responsibility of the two governments?

It is also unacceptable that the use of the land was not made public. This kind of inaction would never have been ignored in the United States.

In 2012, the U.S. embarked on the disposal of defoliants in Vietnam in collaboration with the Vietnamese government. If the U.S. calls Japan its ally, it owes Japan the same kind of responsibility to dispose of the toxins on its bases in Okinawa.