As of: March 18, 2024, 3:27 p.m
By: Kathrin Reikowski
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A cat looks into the camera.
© Stefan Sauer/dpa
A city in Japan is looking for a cat: it is contaminated with carcinogenic substances and should not be touched.
Fukuyama - According to
CNN,
many film fans are probably already familiar with the chemical: Chromium VI is the reason for the claims for damages in the film “Erin Brokovich”.
In it, the unknown lawyer Erin, played by Hollywood star Julia Roberts, manages to win a sensational lawsuit on behalf of many people affected by cancer.
Chromium VI is currently occupying an entire Japanese city in real life - not in a blockbuster.
The warning about a free-roaming cat contaminated with chromium VI is currently worrying people there.
Japan: Cat fell into a vat in a factory
It all started with paw prints: in the Numora Plating Fukuyuma factory, which deals with metal gavainization.
The traces identified as cat prints had moved away from a tub and the cover of the tub had slipped down.
A worker discovered this last week at the start of his shift, whereupon the images from a surveillance camera were viewed: And these actually showed an animal fleeing the site:
The three meter deep vat contained chromium VI, which is carcinogenic and can cause severe skin irritation.
As
CNN
further reports, security patrols have been increased in the city of Fukuyama in Japan, and residents and workers are also looking for the animal.
Cat fell into a vat in Japan - is the animal still alive?
However, the animal could already be dead by now: "Even if the fur would protect the skin from immediate major burns, cats clean their fur by licking it," Linda Schenk, a Swedish researcher specializing in chemical risk assessment, told
CNN
.
The chemical could have gotten into the animal's mouth.
“I suspect that unfortunately the cat is dead or will die shortly due to the chemical burns.”
A spokesman for the factory operator asserted that the company had learned from the cat's fate: "The incident has alarmed us that we need to take measures to prevent small animals such as cats from sneaking in," he told AFP.
And here too you are looking for a cat: an airline lost the animal on a stopover.
(AFP/kat)