Man remembers asbestos near old Kubota factory

(Kyodo News International (Tokyo) (KRT)) Dec. 27--AMAGASAKI -- One man who lived near one of Kubota Corp.'s old factories in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, can remember how his umbrella would be covered with white dust -- asbestos -- after it dried.


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The now 62-year-old man, who spoke on condition of anonymity, used to live in an apartment building for officials of the defunct Posts and Telecommunications Ministry on the northern side of Kubota's old Kanzaki factory. Kubota is a major machinery maker based in Osaka.Six months have passed since it was revealed that some residents living in the nearby area may be suffering from asbestos-linked illnesses.Asbestos is a fibrous mineral used in buildings, among other things, which is known to cause diseases such as mesothelioma, a rare cancer found in the lining of the heart, lungs and the abdominal cavity, and lung cancer even many years after being inhaled.The government has unveiled a legal framework to help people with asbestos-linked illnesses as well as the families who have members that have died from such illnesses.But critics say there is a large discrepancy between the government payments under the planned law and those provided under workers' compensation.The man had lived in Amagasaki for 18 years when he was young.He remembered that the tatami mats in his apartment were dusty and that his skin felt prickly when he wore underwear that had been dried outside.Three former residents of the apartment, including his younger brother, died of mesothelioma."Amagasaki at the time was a polluted city with full of soot," the man said, adding that people never thought anything about seeing stuff in the air.Kubota's factory went into operation in 1954. And from 1957 to 1975, it allegedly used 88,671 tons of blue asbestos to manufacture water pipes and other items. Blue asbestos (crocidolite) is said to be more toxic than white asbestos (chrysotile).About half of the 251 workers involved in production for more than 10 years developed asbestos-related illnesses, such as mesothelioma, and 61 have died.A 70-year-old man who had worked in the factory between 1959 and 1966 used to remove solid asbestos from hemp bags and put it into a mill to loosen the fibers. He said clouds of asbestos would rise from the floor during the process.The company provided workers with sponges and cotton gauze but did not inform them about the hazards, he said. He recalled that some men worked without wearing the gauze, and almost all the windows were open.Working at the factory, which ran 24 hours on two shifts, was hard, but the pay was attractive, said the man, who was diagnosed with an asbestos-related lung disease in 1996.He suffers from incessant coughing in the winter. Seven workers who all came from his hometown have died.The dedicated effort of Kazuko Furukawa, 57, of Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, brought to light that asbestos was affecting the people living near the factory.Her husband had symptoms of mesothelioma in 2000 after handling asbestos at work. It took doctors a long time to confirm his illness and, in the meantime, his repeated requests for workers' compensation were rejected. He died in 2001.Furukawa took part in activities launched by support groups to help those who were in the same situation as she was. While walking around the old factory, she ran into residents who never worked with asbestos but who had mesothelioma.She began to see "asbestos pollution" in them.Kubota subsequently began paying "sympathy" money to patients and condolence money to families of those who died from mesothelioma, thanks to the efforts made by Furukawa and support groups.According to a survey conducted by Norio Kurumatani, an expert on industrial epidemiology at Nara Medical University, said the risk of dying of mesothelioma for people living in a 500-meter radius of the old factory is 10 times higher than the national average.