Residents of a city in Japan were warned to be on alert after a cat fell into toxic chemicals and escaped.
The cat fled the Nomura Plating factory in Fukuyama leading the local government to issue a public health warning. The feline is believed to have fallen into a roughly 10-foot vat of hexavalent chromium, which is also known as chromium 6. The substance is stored at 122 degrees Fahrenheit.
The cat’s whereabouts and condition remain unknown as of March 14.
A worker reported seeing yellow-brown paw prints leading away from the container on the morning of March 11. Residents were asked to keep an eye out for an “abnormal-looking” cat but told not to approach it.
Exposure to the chemical can lead to rashes, skin irritation, damage the eyes or cause lung cancer if inhaled. If swallowed, the substance can cause abdominal pain, diarrhea and heart failure. It may damage the gut, liver and kidneys and result in death.
Workers at the metal plating factory wear gloves and protective goggles. Officials at the plant said they immediately alerted the authorities and the community near the facility.
“We are taking the complaints seriously and will take thorough measures to prevent such incidents from happening again in the future,” an unnamed official said, according to the South China Morning Post.
The cat's departure was caught on the facility's security footage.
“Fukuyama environmental officials speculated that the cat may have died as a result of its encounter with the poisonous chemical,” reported The Guardian.
The New York Post reported animal advocates criticized the factory for being lax on safety and putting the feline's life at risk.
Concerns about hexavalent chromium contamination in water prompted California to set a maximum contamination level in March of 2022 of 10 parts per billion. The chemical can enter the water supply through dye and paint pigments, wood preservatives, and leaching from hazardous waste sites.
“Hexavalent chromium is a heavy metal that has been used in industrial applications and found naturally occurring throughout the environment. While chromium can exist in a nontoxic, trivalent form, the hexavalent form has been shown to be carcinogenic and toxic to the liver,” the State Water Resources Control Board notes. “Hexavalent chromium is among the chemicals known to the state to cause cancer [Title 27, California Code of Regulations, Section 27001], pursuant to California's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (‘Proposition 65’).”
