TOKYO —

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said Tuesday that at least 17 cases of bile duct cancer have been reported among workers at printing companies in five prefectures. Eight are known to have died of the disease, the ministry said.

Health Minister Yoko Komiyama told a news conference that the ministry’s Labor Standards Bureau had surveyed 561 printing firms in Tokyo, Osaka, Miyagi, Ishikawa and Shizuoka prefectures in June, Sankei Shimbun reported. The survey was conducted after 12 workers at an Osaka printing plant were diagnosed with bile duct cancer, six of whom have since died, the paper reported.

Komiyama said the ministry will investigate to see if printing companies where workers contracted the cancer were adhering to safety standards on the use of chemicals and cleaning agents, as well as ventilation facilities.

Japan Today

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  smithinjapan at Jul. 11, 2012 - 09:11AM JST

  "Komiyama said the ministry will investigate to see if printing companies where workers contracted the cancer were adhering to safety standards on the use of chemicals and cleaning agents, as well as ventilation facilities. "

  Seems pretty clear they were not.

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  ReformedBasher at Jul. 11, 2012 - 11:58AM JST

  Feel sorry for these guys. We take things we buy for granted without ever thinking of people slaving away to make it.

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  electric2004 at Jul. 11, 2012 - 12:12PM JST

  The newspaper already reported some of the buildings were windowless, so there is indeed the question if the ventilation was sufficient to reduce the toxin levels.

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  Menpsycho at Jul. 11, 2012 - 01:15PM JST

  I don't know how some corporate leadership can live with themselves. Reading about things like this and the Chisso Minamata disaster really shakes my faith in humanity. There seems to be a major lack of empathy below Japan's shiny, polite surface.

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  Lowly at Jul. 11, 2012 - 08:33PM JST

  no, menpsycho, it is love, hot burning love of the retainer gladly throwing his life away for the patron, and the patron, with tears in his eyes, nodding, "wakarimashita. I accept your sacrifice."

  i am only half joking. there is something beautiful in ppl devoting themselves to a task, and devoting themself fully, 100% to it, and accepting all responsibility for anything bad that comes their way as a result of it.

  however, it is a mindset that can also be exploited.

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  basroil at Jul. 11, 2012 - 08:55PM JST

  ReformedBasher Jul. 11, 2012 - 11:58AM JST

  Feel sorry for these guys. We take things we buy for granted without ever thinking of people slaving away to make it.

  Very true. There's plenty of hidden dangers in practically every field. Nobody ever talks about toxic chemicals that are used by people to make everything from cellphones to solar panels, toilet paper to photos.

  I wonder if they will ever actually look into how many cancer cases were caused by allowing smoking in the offices though, I'm sure they'll find hundreds times more cases than just a dozen.

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  Bob Sneider at Jul. 11, 2012 - 11:08PM JST

  Everyday, Japan seems to prove that its position in the World among other developed countries such US/UK, is merely an illusion. On the news, they mentioned that these companies had some warning on the possible dangerous conditions in their factories. You'd expect to hear these stories from some developing nation. A "developed" country such as this needs to have a more strict enforcement of safety policies.

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  ReformedBasher at Jul. 13, 2012 - 02:31PM JST

  @Menpsycho

  Unfortuately it's a world wide problem.