FY2021 Summary of Harmful and Hazardous Incident Data received through PIO-NET

This summary reflects "harmful/hazardous incident data"¹ collected by PIO-NET² in fiscal 2021.

Details of the information will be described in the "Annual Report on Consumer Affairs 2022", which will be released on NCAC's website in October 2022.

1. ¹ "Harmful/hazardous incident data" combines data on products, services or facilities involved in an incident of harm, i.e. bodily injury and/or sickness, or other disease, etc. ("harmful incident data") and cases in which there was the potential for harm, even though no actual harm was suffered ("hazardous incident data").
2. ² PIO-NET is a database that collects information on inquiries concerning consumer affairs by linking NCAC with local consumer affairs centers and similar organizations across Japan via an online network.
3. Note: The Japanese fiscal year starts in April and concludes in March of the following year.

Trends and characteristics in FY2021

• There were 13,194 incidents reported as "harmful/hazardous incident data", a 12.2% decrease compared to the previous year.
• For "harmful incident data" as which 11,263 incidents were reported, the top three products/services were "cosmetics", "health food" and "medical services". For "hazardous incident data" as which 1,931 incidents were reported, the top three products/services were "four-wheel automobiles", "prepared food" and "telephone equipment and accessories".
• Regarding "harmful incident data", there was a decrease of 1,656 incidents from the previous year, mainly affected by a decrease of 2,404 incidents in "health food" in spite of an increase of 584 incidents in "cosmetics". Female victims accounted for about 80%.
• Regarding "hazardous incident data", there was a decrease of 172 incidents from the previous year, greatly affected by a decrease of 74 incidents in "carpeting". In 2020, the mass media reported that some brands of diatomite mats contained asbestos, and there was a large increase in inquiries about health effects from using diatomite mats. This factor caused a surge in incidents in "carpeting" in fiscal 2020, but things changed in fiscal 2021.