Journal of Environment and Safety
Online ISSN : 2186-3725
Print ISSN : 1884-4375
ISSN-L : 1884-4375
Volume 8, Issue 3
Displaying 1-8 of 8 articles from this issue
Special Issue - Utilization of observed data and images to improve EHS management and education -
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  • Yoshito Oshima
    2017 Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 83-89
    Published: 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: November 23, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    In university experimental research, it is a difficult proposition to carry out research safely without losing research creativity and activities because research promotion and its risk are inextricably linked. In light of the fact that the degree of freedom of researchers is a source that leads to new discoveries, it must be accepted as a premise to a certain extent that much of the experimental research necessarily consists of unsteady tasks. In order to discuss the safety of experimental research sites with high degrees of freedom, such as arbitrariness and non-stationarity, it is necessary to analyze the events occurring at experimental research sites more quantitatively, and to logically organize and clarify the complex relationship of complexity in the structure of the laboratory system. In this paper, we introduce a case study on the human behavior, the transportation of things, and the condition in experimental research field, by acquiring data by scientific methods from actual experimental research sites and analyzing it by associating with the characteristics of experimental research. Such analysis enables us to understand objectively and quantitatively the actual conditions of experimental research sites and the characteristics of experimental research which had been limited to a vague understanding so far, and is expected to be utilized as a scientific basis for reasonable safety management and education based on actual circumstances of experimental laboratories.

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Research Papers
  • Kengo Tomita, Rumiko Hayashi, Tadashi Nishikimi, Taiji Mishina, Shizua ...
    2017 Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 91-100
    Published: 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: November 23, 2017
    Advance online publication: October 23, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    Since many fire accidents have occurred at universities conducting experimental research, the necessity of fire prevention education is increasing. In this research, in order to develop teaching materials and methods for more effective fire prevention education, an actual fire experiment simulating fire from the laboratory was conducted utilizing a building to be demolished in the university. Using video cameras and temperature sensors installed in various places in the building,we visually confirmed that (1) the smoke reached the normal human respiration area and the view was also obstructed by smoke in about three minutes after the ignition, (2) the smoke generated inside the room spread to the corridor, the staircase and the upper floor, (3) the temperatures rose with the smoke flow, (4) the smoke diffusion blocked by room door and fire door and (5) the fire door closed in conjunction with the sensor of the fire alarm. Based on the lesson learned by this experiment, all of the video films were compiled to develop the safety education videos for fire protection and emergency response. They have been used for recent lectures and seminars for chemical substances and fire countermeasures conducted in the university and higher educational effects can be expected.

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  • Yuji Nakamura, Hiroyuki Torikai, Yoshio Ogawa, Hideo Ohtani, Kenji Sat ...
    2017 Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 101-111
    Published: 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: November 23, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    This paper proposes the effective fire drill with effective keywords (slogans) for initial fire-fighting strategy by any personnel in universities at which the potential fire sources spreads thoroughly, via the extinguishment experiments using the portable fire extinguisher. Target fire source is so called “B-4 model fire” and 10 of experts engaged in fire research and development (from universities, national research institute, company for fire prevention etc.) participated as subject of the present experimental test. Their whole behaviors throughout the fire-fighting event were carefully monitored and recorded. Examples of successive and non-successive cases were carefully analyzed to derive the key factors (slogans) to achieve the successive fire-fighting operation by portable fire extinguisher, such as extinguisher shall be sweeping from the fire front, sweeping frequency is around 6-7 Hz, operate the ejecting hose with dominant hand. The key factors have been validated by the additional test, which most of all examinees succeeded the complete extinguishment within a short time. It turned out that those key factors (slogans) shall be valuable to include future fire drill. This work was monitored by Academic Committee established in Japan Association for Fire Science and Engineering.

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General Issue
Research Papers
  • Yasuro Fuse, Hirotaka Mizuguchi, Yoshinobu Yotsu, Hajime Karatani, Et ...
    2017 Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 113-122
    Published: 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: November 23, 2017
    Advance online publication: September 16, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    1,4-dioxane in drainage samples from educational research institutions, such as a college, was quantified by a highly sensitive analysis method using Headspace-GC/MS (determination limit of 0.5 µg/L), which is sufficient for ignoring the influence of coexisting substances. The pollution risk of 1,4-dioxane in drainage systems, resulting from direct use or from reagents and detergents containing 1,4-dioxane, was investigated. The results showed that 1,4-dioxane concentrations in the examined reagents were below the permissible limits, and thus the pollution risk was confirmed to be low. Furthermore, there may be cases where the concentrations of 1,4-dioxane in treated waters are higher than those in original wastewaters containing heavy-metals, so contamination or generation of 1,4-dioxane may occur during the treatment process in university. In addition, the generation of 1,4-dioxane in exhaust gas through a lime coating bag filter in an industrial waste incineration treatment facility was confirmed. The source of 1,4-dioxane may be ethyleneglycol or polyethyleneglycol contained in the used lime.

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  • Tomoki Sano, Masahiro Yamaguchi, Machika Miyauchi, Takahiro Nakamichi, ...
    2017 Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 123-134
    Published: 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: November 23, 2017
    Advance online publication: October 10, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    Lithium is widely used as materials of such as batteries for small size electronic equipment and electric vehicles, or as ingredients of drugs for manic-depressive psychosis. As the toxic influence of lithium on organism would be weak compared with other metals, lithium is not necessarily noted as toxic substance. However, the amount of lithium released into environmental is predicted to increase in future. That is why estimation of the toxicity of lithium will be important. In this study, we examined the toxic effect of lithium chloride on medaka. We found that LC50 of lithium ion on medaka larvae was 18.2 mg/L. Furthermore, we found that sodium chloride and sodium dihydrogenphosphate increased LC50 of lithium ion to 97.9 mg/L and 164 mg/L, receptivity, suggesting that these salts reduced the toxicity of lithium chloride remarkably. Such effect of coexisting salt was observed also in toxicity test using adult fish. Expression pattern analyses of oxidative stress marker genes suggested that exposure to lithium chloride enhances the expressions of SOD genes, but coexisting sodium dihydrogenphosphate diminishes the expressions of them. From these results, it was suggested that lithium chloride introduced the oxidative stress in medaka, and the coexisting sodium dihydrogenphosphate reduces such stress, as well as lowers mortality induced by exposure to lithium chloride.

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Topics & Reports
  • Shigenori Nagatomo, Kunihiko Fujii, Tomoo Sato
    2017 Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 135-140
    Published: 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: November 23, 2017
    Advance online publication: July 01, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    Risk-reducing in chemical experiments in universities is an urgent task. Although environmental arrangement of chemical laboratory for undergraduate students at the moment does not look enough, it is difficult to obtain a sufficient cost to improve in many of recent universities.

    Therefore, we tried to set up local exhaust ventilation at low cost by using already existing facilities to improve environments of chemical laboratory. In the present report, we introduce cost-effectiveness for setting up local exhaust ventilation and educational effects for undergraduate students who used the local exhaust ventilation.

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  • Ryo Omagari, Ayano Takeuchi, Masakazu Katsumata, Masaru Nakamura, Koji ...
    2017 Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 141-148
    Published: 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: November 23, 2017
    Advance online publication: October 10, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    Recently, in a management of effluents derived university, importance of bioassay by some organisms is often discussed. Ultimate aim of this study project is introducing algal bioassay using delayed luminescence (DL) to effluent management system such as universities. In this study, toxicity of lead (Pb), chromate (Cr), nickel (Ni) and selenium (Se) were evaluated by the algal test using DL, because influence of those metals on DL has been determined. Pb, Cr and Ni strongly inhibited the algal DL, it is suggested that algal toxic onset of Pb and Ni closely relates to photosynthesis apparatus. However, Se did not affect the DL. From the results, it is shown that the algal bioassay using DL can detect Pb,Cr and Ni at high sensitive, especially Pb and Ni. On the other hand, reappraising Se toxicity at higher concentration by the algal bioassay using DL is need to reveal behavior of DL from the algae exposure to Se at high concentration.

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  • Masaki Ohno, Hideki Sakashita, Mariko Yagi, Wataru Nishijima
    2017 Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 149-154
    Published: 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: November 23, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    Hiroshima University Higashi-Hiroshima campus is one of the few universities with large-scale water recycling system and a general experimental drainage, the latter referring to washings from laboratory ware used in experiments. These liquid wastes are purified at the Environmental Research and Management Center and the recycled water is used for flushing toilets in the restrooms of the campus. To properly maintain the water quality of the recycled water, it was very necessary to store experimental liquid wastes in designated tanks, including toxic substances and not to pour them into the general experimental drainage. However, many tap aspirators were still being used for the purpose of solvent evaporation, and the solvent contaminated the general experimental drainage. Thus, in order to prevent the treatment and water recycling plant of the general experimental drainage in Hiroshima University from being contaminated with volatile organic compounds, the tap aspirators were changed into a diaphragm pump. All tap aspirators could not be changed, but the effect of preferentially changing to pumps which are frequently used, was verified from a monitoring result of 14 years from FY2003 to FY 2016 of the volatile organic compound concentrations in the general experimental drainage and the treated water. Before changing into the diaphragm pump, the concentrations of benzene, chloroform, and dichloromethane in the influent water were 1.2 - 459.0μg/L, 0.2 - 3128.0μg/L, and 0.1 - 4131.3μg/L, respectively, and these concentrations drastically decreased from FY2010 until FY 2013, when the change has been completed. Before changing into the diaphragm pump, the concentrations in the treated water were at most 7.7μg/L, 137.8μ/L, and 212.3μg/L,respectively, and decreased to <0.1μg/L, 18.0μg/L, and 11.0μg/L, respectively, after the change, showing that the outflow prevention for chemicals conducted in Hiroshima University was effective.

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