さしがや保育園アスベスト健康対策等について(英語版）

About Asbestos Health Countermeasures at Sashigaya Nursery School

Updated February 16, 2024

Background

“In 1999, Bunkyo City’s Sashigaya Nursery School underwent renovation work to increase the capacity for children under one year old. During the course of this work, sprayed asbestos on the ceiling and other parts of the building was dispersed, and children and staff members in the adjacent nursery room were exposed to it.”

— Excerpt from the review committee report
On October 25, 1999, the Bunkyo City Sashigaya Nursery School Asbestos Exposure Health Countermeasures Review Committee was established. The committee clarified the causes of this situation, reviewed future measures, and reported to the city’s mayor on December 22, 2003.
Based on the report, the Bunkyo City Sashigaya Nursery School Asbestos Health Countermeasures Expert Committee was established on March 31, 2004, and reviewed specific health countermeasures for the 149 subjects (children and staff members). As a result, on March 28, 2007, the Bunkyo City Sashigaya Nursery School Asbestos Health Countermeasures Implementation Guideline was established.
The city will steadily implement health countermeasures in accordance with this guideline.

Diseases That Bunkyo City Consider Asbestos Related

Based on the judgment of the expert committee and in accordance with the Bunkyo City Sashigaya Child Daycare Center Asbestos Health Countermeasures Implementation Outline, the following diseases has been classified as asbestos-related diseases:

• Malignant mesothelioma (pleura, peritoneum, pericardium, etc.)
• Lung cancer
• Benign asbestos pleurisy
• Diseases recognized by academic societies, etc. as possibly caused by asbestos

Diseases That Bunkyo City Does Not Consider Asbestos Related

Malignant Tumors

Along with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)—the World Health Organization’s cancer research institute—Bunkyo City does not recognize certain malignant tumors as asbestos-related malignant diseases.

Specifically, Bunkyo City does not consider brain tumors, pharyngeal cancer, esophageal cancer, stomach cancer, biliary tract cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer, skin cancer, breast cancer, bladder cancer, uterine cancer, leukemia, malignant lymphoma and the like to be asbestos-related malignant tumors. For information about other malignant tumors, please contact the Infant Division’s Infant Section.

Contact information for the Infant Division’s, Infant Section

Respiratory Diseases

Following the above recommendations stated in the internationally recognized Helsinki Criteria 1997 and Helsinki Criteria 2014, Bunkyo City also does not consider certain diseases to be benign asbestos-related respiratory diseases. Specifically, Bunkyo City does not consider bronchial asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD), pneumonia (bacterial pneumonia, viral pneumonia), pulmonary tuberculosis, or atypical mycobacterial disease to be benign asbestos-related diseases.

Since the construction work at the nursery school that led to the asbestos exposure only took about two weeks, Bunkyo City does not consider asbestosis a benign asbestos-related disease, based on the conclusion of experts that asbestosis only develops in people with occupational exposure of at least one year.

For information about other benign respiratory diseases, please contact the Infant Division’s Infant Section.

Contact information for the Infant Division’s, Infant Section

Click here for details

If you have or may have an asbestos-related disease

If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease at a medical institution, received a diagnosis such as “requires close examination,” or have received a confirmed diagnosis, please contact the Infant Division’s Infant Section as soon as possible.

Contact information for the Infant Division’s Infant Section

The city will hold an urgent meeting of the Radiographs and CT Photographs Reading Subcommittee of the Bunkyo City Sashigaya Nursery School Asbestos Health Countermeasures Expert Committee. The city will also continue to hold urgent meetings of the Bunkyo City Sashigaya Nursery School Asbestos Health Countermeasures Expert Committee. If necessary, we will also ask the medical institutions where a subject was diagnosed and/or is being treated to submit their medical reports so that we can immediately examine the relationship between the disease and exposure at Sashigaya Nursery School.

Designated medical institutions (CT imaging contractors approved by Bunkyo City) can also perform chest CT imaging at Bunkyo City’s expense, so please consult us on this.

If you want a specialist to review an X-ray or a CT scan

If you have a symptomatic disease and wish to have a doctor who specializes in asbestos-related diseases interpret the X-ray (CR, DR) you had taken at the medical institution where you were diagnosed, please contact the Infant Division’s Infant Section.

Contact information for the Infant Division’s, Infant Section

Please borrow X-rays (CR, DR) from the medical institution where you were diagnosed.

If you wish to have your images interpreted the evaluation committee will also evaluate you once a year.

Medical Examinations

Scheduled for July 2024

Starting in 2019, when former preschoolers will become adults, the city will conduct medical examinations as recommended by the Bunkyo City Sashigaya Nursery School Asbestos Health Countermeasures Expert Committee.

Children and staff who were exposed to asbestos at Sashigaya Nursery School in 1999 are eligible for these examinations.

• Schedule (subject to change)
  June: Information sent by postal mail
  July: Medical examinations (primary examination: X-ray)
  August: Interpretation of X-rays taken during the primary examination
  October: Secondary examination for those who need it (CT scan)
  November: Interpretation of CT scan taken during the secondary examination
• Exam details
  Primary examination: Chest X-ray and interpretation
  Secondary examination: Chest CT scan and interpretation (only for those determined to need this examination during the primary examination)
  The city commissions medical institutions to take chest X-rays and CT scans, which are then interpreted by specialists in asbestos-related diseases by a subcommittee of the Expert Committee.

In addition, for those unable to take part in the examinations the city conducted and wish to submit chest X-rays or chest CT scans for interpretation, a specialist in asbestos-related diseases will assess them at a subcommittee meeting of the Expert Committee.

For inquiries, please contact the Infant Division’s Infant Section.

Note: If you require urgent interpretation, please contact the Infant Division’s Infant Section.

Asbestos Health Countermeasures Implementation Guideline

Enactment of the Sashigaya Nursery School Asbestos Health Countermeasures Implementation Guideline（PDF：32KB）

Bunkyo City Sashigaya Nursery School Asbestos Health Countermeasures Implementation Guideline（PDF：66KB）

Asbestos Health Countermeasures Expert Committee

Establishment Guideline

The full text of the establishment guideline of the Bunkyo City Sashigaya Nursery School Asbestos Health Countermeasures Expert Committee, established on April 9, 2004, is available as a PDF file. (Revised on April 1, 2016)

Bunkyo City Sashigaya Nursery School Asbestos Health Countermeasures Expert Committee Establishment Guideline (revised on April 1, 2016)（PDF：60KB）

Next Expert Committee meeting

（Last Time）56th Bunkyo City Sashigaya Nursery School Asbestos Health Countermeasures Expert Committee meeting

Date: Thursday,December 14, 2023

Venue: Online and in person

（Next Time）To be decided

Minutes for meetings in FY2023 and earlier

Asbestos Health Countermeasures Expert Committee News

Since the Expert Committee first met on April 9, 2004, the Committee News has been published to inform the people subject to health countermeasures about the committee’s decisions and provide the latest information on asbestos. This is also available to the public.

Click here for the Committee News

Health risk consultations and psychological consultations

（Last Time）Saturday,February 18, 2023

（Next Time）Saturday,March 16, 2024

Application form（外部リンク）

Notes:

1. These consultations are intended for children who were exposed to asbestos at Sashigaya Nursery School in 1999 and their parents/guardians.
2. If you have any concerns, please contact the Infant Division’s Infant Section, regardless of the consultation schedule. The Expert Committee will respond promptly.

Inquiries

Infant Section, Infant Division

Bunkyo Civic Center 12F South Side

1-16-21 Kasuga, Bunkyo City, Tokyo 〒112-8555

Tel:03-5803-1189

Fax:03-5803-1346