Journal of Environment and Safety
Online ISSN : 2186-3725
Print ISSN : 1884-4375
ISSN-L : 1884-4375
Volume 1, Issue 1
Displaying 1-6 of 6 articles from this issue
  • Koji Arizono
    2010 Volume 1 Issue 1 Pages 1_21-1_25
    Published: 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: December 01, 2011
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
     Bisphenol A (BPA; 2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)propane) of 500,000 tons manufactures or it is imported in Japan. And about 90 percent of BPA is used as a synthetic raw material of the polycarbonate resin and epoxy resin.
     The manufacture and sales of polycarbonate nursing bottles and dinnerware have been almost completely discontinued in Japan ever since the endocrine disruption effect became a national matter of concern, and the Japanese Can Manufacturers Association's guideline specifies the bisphenol A elution level as 0.005 μg/mL or lower in canned drinks and 0.01 μg/mL or lower in general canned food for metal cans manufactured in Japan. Therefore the bisphenol A exposure level in Japan has been reduced dramatically compared to that of 10 years ago. It is even lower than those in the U.S. or Europe. The number of compounds that the structure is similar to BPA (BPA relevant compound) increases on the other hand every year.
     In addition to the current state of the restriction of BPA and the exposure situation, the ecological effects of BPA and BPA relevant compounds were reviewed.
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  • Chisato Yoshimura, Satoru Nishiyama, Hironobu Imaoka, Masakazu Moriyam ...
    2010 Volume 1 Issue 1 Pages 1_27-1_34
    Published: 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: December 01, 2011
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
     Dichloromethane and benzene are toxic volatile organic compounds (VOC). Since they are readily dissolved in aqua media and harmful effect on ecology is expected, local governments strictly regulate the level of the exhausted VOC in to public sewerage. Especially, solubility of dichloromethane in water is much higher than that of typical VOC and the effective removal of dichloromethane from waste water is difficult. Although the acquisition of basic kinetic data is mandatory in order to design the practical removal plant of VOC by aeration, few experimental data were only observed in a beaker scale aeration test. The pilot scale plant for the removal of dichloromethane from waste water was designed on the basis of the beaker scale experimental kinetic data. In this report, the procedure of design of the practical plant for removal of VOC was established by calculation with the beaker scale kinetic data. The performance test of the constructed plant was also carried out. The modified intrinsic kinetic parameters are estimated after the performance test. And a guideline for the design is established.
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  • Kengo Tomita, Ai Shuhara, Hitoshi Yamamoto, Yoshito Oshima
    2010 Volume 1 Issue 1 Pages 1_35-1_42
    Published: 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: December 01, 2011
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
     When using chemicals, it is important for users to obtain such information of chemicals as potential hazards, toxicities and legal regulations. However, the users in Japanese educational research institutes, particularly in universities, do not necessarily have sufficient knowledge and recognition of chemical risks and related information.
     A survey of researchers and students who use chemicals suggested that a single page-view for a chemical substance which includes quantitative expression of hazard and toxicity information with such practical information as accident examples and management guidelines would be effective for users to aid self-management and to raise awareness of chemical risks. In this paper, we propose a summarized information database of chemicals in web-page format, the features of which are 1) minimal amount of toxicity information of chemicals that users should recognize, 2) a radar chart system for visualization of chemical risks, and 3) pragmatic information for the usage and the management of chemicals. This database is expected to help better and effective understanding of the chemical risks as an educational tool for the users of chemical substances in research institutes.
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  • Hajime Muto, Yoko Sakakibara, Taku Shindoh, Osamu Nakamura, Kazunari S ...
    2010 Volume 1 Issue 1 Pages 1_43-1_49
    Published: 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: December 01, 2011
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
     The measures of Japanese universities were surveyed in 2008 and 2009 concerning the control of working environment for the use of formaldehyde. This survey revealed that the following measures are required to prevent health hazards of workers by formaldehyde in workrooms of pathology, pathological anatomy and postmortem examination in the universities. From a point of the operating control, 1) acceleration of the use of substitutes of formaldehyde, 2) prevention of exhalation of formaldehyde by the use of closed vessels, 3) isolation of exhalation sources of formaldehyde, 4) use of protection tools. From a point of the control of working environment, 5) set up of whole and part exhaust equipments or push-pull type equipments. We hope that occupational safety and health management system is further established, and education on safety management and prevention of health hazards should be put into practice in universities.
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  • Shinichi Sakai, Misuzu Asari, Nariaki Fujimoto
    2010 Volume 1 Issue 1 Pages 1_51-1_60
    Published: 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: December 01, 2011
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
     It is important to realize low-carbon society in the world. Not only industries but also the universities face with this problem. We purpose to grasp the actual conditions of carbon emission and get the base information of University in order to find the useful method to reduce CO2 emission. We conducted benchmarking of 60 National Universities in Japan which are obliged to make the environment report by Environmental Consideration Law. This paper focus on energy, which is electricity, heavy oil, heating oil, gasoline, gas oil, city gas, propane gas and CO2 emission in fiscal year of 2005, 2006 and 2007.
    Amount of CO2 emission generated from non-renewable resource (by conversion factors of Local Suppliers) is 1.79 million ton-CO2 /yr in 2005, 1.69 million ton-CO2 /yr in 2006, 1.86 million ton-CO2 /yr in 2007, and it correspond to 0.14% of total emission in Japan. This study also shows that 34 universities reduced in total amount of CO2 emission (by default conversion factors of law) in 2007, compared to 2005.
     The maximum value of CO2 emission per unit floor area is more than 5 times larger than the minimum. 4 universities have succeeded in reduction of both total amount and amount per gross floor area for these 2 years.
     It is necessary to gather and analyze more data for considering countermeasures. Benchmarking of CO2 emission is effective to stipulate concrete action.
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  • Risuke Karima
    2010 Volume 1 Issue 1 Pages 1_61-1_71
    Published: 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: December 01, 2011
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
     For the purpose of getting information for the establishment of safety and health management of universities and other academic institutions in Japan, the actual situations of safety and health management of 12 colleges and universities in USA were investigated. Additionally, 52 Japanese researchers and students in the US colleges and universities were interviewed concerning how they feel the safety and health management of their schools in comparison to that of Japanese universities.
     As a result, all of the 12 colleges and universities have established Environmental Health and Safety Office (EHS Office) in their schools, which are constituted by 36~79 staffs in the schools with more than 10,000 students and by around 20 staffs in the schools with less than 5,000 students. Additionally, every college and university has developed Web-based training for ensuring safety and health in research and education. The interview survey for the Japanese researchers and students in the US colleges and universities revealed around 80% of the responders regard that the safety and health management and education of their schools is well established as compared to that of Japanese universities.
     The results of this study demonstrate that the safety and health management and education of US colleges and universities has been well established, and these findings will provide us with meaningful information for the development of the framework of safety and health management of Japanese universities and other academic institutions.
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