Tokyo CNN —A city in Japan is on high alert for a cat that fell into a tank of hazardous chemicals before disappearing into the night. A trail of pawprints discovered by a worker on Monday led to a 3-meter-deep vat of hexavalent chromium, a cancer-causing chemical that can induce rashes and inflammation if touched or inhaled, officials said. Akihiro Kobayashi, manager of the Nomura Mekki Fukuyama factory, said a sheet covering the chemical vat was found partially torn when employees returned to work after the weekend. Hexavalent chromium, or Chromium-6, is perhaps best known as the carcinogenic chemical featured in the 2000 movie “Erin Brockovich,” starring Julia Roberts. “Workers may be harmed from exposure to hexavalent chromium,” the CDC says on its website.

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Persons: Akihiro Kobayashi, Nomura Mekki Fukuyama, Kobayashi, Erin Brockovich, ”, Julia Roberts Organizations: Tokyo CNN, Fukuyama City, Nomura Mekki, Workers, Factory, US Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, “ Workers Locations: Japan, Fukuyama , Hiroshima prefecture, Fukuyama, California