Contamination of phenolic endocrine disrupters in water and fish from rivers and lakes in Europe, America and Japan was reviewed and the bioconcentraton potential of the chemicals and their contamination in the field fish was evaluated. Nonylphenol (NP) and 4-tert-octylphenol (OP) concentrations in the water were on the whole decreasing but bisphenol A (BPA) did not have a definite tendency. The concentrations and the yearly change of the contaminated chemicals had regional differences. In Europe and America, the values of high concentrations were reported in the past but a sharp decrease tendency in the concentrations of NP, nonylphenol monoethoxylate (NP1EO), nonylphenol diethoxylate (NP2EO), etc. was recognized from the survey data in the last few years. The contamination of NP, OP and BPA in fish from rivers and lakes was on the whole predicted by Laboratory bioconcentration factor (BCF) of the chemicals (middle-low bioconcentration potential) . From the evaluation of Field BCF by Laboratory BCF, it was revealed that the values of Field BCF change more largely than those of Laboratory BCF because of the concentration change of the chemicals in the water, conditions of the environment, individual difference in fish, etc. That is, more precise evaluation of their contamination in the field fish will be possible by using Laboratory BCF together with Field BCF.

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We have analyzed a variety of samples for PCDD/DFs and coplanar PCBs. In these numerous data, besides, a great impact of 2, 3, 4, 7, 8-PeCDF to toxicity equivalency quantity (TEQ) contribution was common to different sample matrixs. Consequently, a usage of this isomer for the determination of total TEQ was evaluated and discussed. For example, there was found a good correlation coefficient between the levels of 2, 3, 4, 7, 8-PeCDF and total TEQ in exhaust gas, ash, ambient air, soil, sediment, environmental water and human blood. In addition, only in sediment and environmental water, the second indicator isomer was also considered to play a vital role for the total TEQ. Based on these findings, it was quiet possible to calculate the total TEQ just using the correlation factor of indicator isomers. Consequently, in this study, a simple and rapid analytical method was established for the total TEQ of PCDD/DFs and coplanar PCBs.

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Trace element concentrations (Li, Be, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Ag, Cd, Cs, Ba, Hg, Tl, Pb, Bi, Th and U) in the muscle and whole body of 20 species of fishes collected from Lake Baikal, Caspian Sea, Black Sea and Japanese coastal waters were determined in order to compare with each level. Cobalt, As, Hg and Tl concentrations in the marine fishes were higher than those in blackish and fresh water fishes such as Black Sea, Caspian Sea and Lake Baikal. Chromium, Co, Rb, Tl and Pb concentrations in the Baikal fishes were higher than those in species from other area. In contrast, lower concentrations of Li, As and Th were found in Baikal fishes. Relatively higher concentrations of Zn and Sr and lower levels of Cr, Rb and Cs were observed in Caspian fishes when compared with individuals from other waters, although only one species could be analyzed. Vanadium and Cu concentrations in Black Sea samples were higher than those of other fishes, however Li concentrations in Black Sea species were low.
From results of species-specific accumulation, Hg concentration in the fishes was due to tropic levels relating with body size and life span. Toxic elements such as Ag, Hg and Tl and alkali and alkaline earth metals such as Cs and Sr levels in the body of fishes might be concentrated with growth and amount of diet intake, although almost all element including essential metals were diluted with increasing body size. Therefore, above elements such as Hg, Tl, Sr and Cs would reflect environmental levels. Moisture and fat contents in the tissues and inter-element relationships might be also effective factors to decide the trace element levels in the fish bodies.

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In order to evaluate the effects on air pollution by particulate matter originating from coal combustion and hazardous air pollutants, some elements contained in particulate matter and soils were determined during the period 1982-1998 in Ehime Prefecture. The results were as follows: (1) Among the 11 elements analyzed in the particulate matter collected from five industrialized cities, Fe exhibited the highest mean value of 0.818μg/m³, followed by Zn 0.106μg/m³, Pb 0.044μg/m³, Mn 0.025μg/m³ and Ni 0.010μg/m³. In more than half of the samples, levels of Cr, Cd and V were below the detection limits. (2) In Niihama City, As concentrations in winter showed a decreasing tendency during the period 1982-1999. (3) Significant positive correlation was found between the concentrations of Fe and particulate matter. (4) The concentrations of Hg did not decrease during 1982-1998 except in Matsuyama City, suggesting that Hg was emitted mainly from natural sources. (5) Decreasing tendencies during the study period were found for Fe in Saijo City, Ni in Kawanoe City and Saijo City, Pb in Saijo City, As in Niihama City, Toyo City and Matsuyama City, and V in Niihama City, Saijo City and Matsuyama City. (6) Element concentrations in soils were not exceptionally high and the ranges of concentrations observed were almost equal to the values found in previous literature. (7) Only the orders of Al, Fe and As concentrations in soils and particulate matters were almost the same. Pb was especially high in particulate matter, suggesting that pollution sources of Pb other than soils exist in the neighborhood. (8) Natural sources might contribute significantly to the loadings of Mn, Fe and Hg in particulate matter, whereas Ni, Pb and V might be primarily anthropogenic origin.

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Eighteen metals emitted from two municipal solid waste incineration systems were investigated. Two facilities have improved combustion conditions and retrofitted air pollution control systems from electrostatic precipitators to fablic filter. Concentration levels generated from furnaces were>10 mg/m³_N for Zn, 1-10 mg/m³_N for Pb, T-Cr, Sb, Sn, Cu, Mn and Ba, 0.1-1.0 mg/m³_N for Ni, Cd, V and Co, 0.01-0.1 mg/m³_N for T-Hg, As and Se. Concentrations of Be, Te and Tl were less than 0.05 mg/m³_N. Removal efficiency in air control units of Hg was improved from 22 % to more than 90 % after retrofit. Vaporization rates were 100 % for Hg, >70 % for Cd and Sb, 50-70 % for As, Se, Zn, Pb and Sn, 20-50 % for T-Cr, Mn, and Co<20 % for Ni, V, Cu and Ba. Substantial amount of heavy metals existed in a particulate phase but a few amount of As, Se, Zn, Sb and Sn were in a gaseous phase. Emission factors to the atmospheric environment estimated in this study were as follows: Hg: 0.05 g/t, Zn: 0.1 g/t, Pb: 0.027 g/t, T-Cr: 0.056, Sn: 0. 14, Cu: 0.015 and the others: <0.02 g/t. These figures were 100 times less than the reported data. Total emission amounts of heavy metals in Japan were also calculated using the estimated emission factors. Those were 1-6 t/y for Hg, Sn, Zn, Pb, and Cr and less than 1 t/y for other metals.

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In order to specify the sealant containing PCBs quickly, the rapid judgment method that distinguishes Polysulfide type sealant from other types was examined. The samplings of sealant were performed at buildings that were extracted on the screening procedure. The samples were judged by means of 4 steps, (1) observation of appearance, (2) sense of smell examination, (3) the content ultimate analysis by fluorescence X-rays, and (4) the dissolution in nitric acid. As a result of above judgments and measuring PCBs content in sealant by HRGC-ECD, it was confirmed that sealants containing PCBs were mostly Polysulfide type sealant. These PCBs content were in the range from 0.05 to 19.1 %. Moreover, the type of KC (Kane Chlor) that used for sealant material could be expected from the PCBs homologue distribution result, using HRGC-MS.

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Various chemicals may remain in waste wood treated with wood preservatives that would have been discarded in large quantities from now on. In order to evaluate human health-risk of those chemicals due to waste wood recycling, exposure analyses were performed as follows: scenario-1 was cutting work of waste wood by a worker, and scenario-2 was indoor use of waste wood with casual ingestion of them by a child; focusing on heavy metals (Cr, Cu, As), PCP (Pentachlorophenol), PCDD/DFs (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans) and PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) in pressure treated wood and untreated wood; in both gaseous and particle-bound compounds; by both exposure route of inhalation and ingestion. In results, the amount of chemicals exposure through inhalation and ingestion of gaseous compounds and particle-bound compounds during such recycling process far exceeded the usual level. In addition, a possibility that continuous exposure would raise the risk of human health even to carcinogenic risk of 10^-4 was suggested.

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In this study, we analyzed 77 pesticides and some of their degradation products (14 kinds) in TE river water (raw water) and tap water samples originated from the TE and TA river. The total concentration of pesticides and their degradation products showed a peak in summer (May-September) with range from 0.2 ppb to 8.5 ppb in the raw water samples and from 0.03 ppb to 2.8 ppb in the tap water samples. Apparently part of the pesticides were removed firstly due to chlorine treatment and secondarily due to coagulation-sedimentation. Pesticides detected in the raw water samples were mainly herbicides used for rice culture and secondarily insecticides for rice culture and other plants and fungicides for rice culture, while in the tap water samples, pesticides were mainly herbicides for rice culture and secondarily insecticides for rice culture.
The concentration of herbicides for rice culture detected in the raw water and tap water samples showed a peak in summer (May-September) with range from 0.1 ppb to 5.4 ppb in the former and from 0.005 ppb to 1.8 ppb in the latter. The concentration of insecticides detected in the raw water and tap water samples showed a peak in summer (May-September) . In the raw water samples, the concentration of insecticides not used for rice culture was below the detection limit to 2.2 ppb, and that of insecticides for rice culture was below the detection limit to 0.5 ppb. In the tap water samples, the concentration of insecticides not used for rice culture was below the detection limit to 0.15 ppb, and that of insecticides for rice culture was below the detection limit to 0.7 ppb. The concentration of fungicides detected in the raw water and tap water samples showed a peak in summer (May-September) . Fungicides for rice culture showed a normal distribution while non-normal distribution was evident to fungicides not used for rice culture. In the raw water samples, the concentration of fungicides not used for rice culture was below the detection limit to 0.8 ppb, and that of fungicides for rice culture was below the detection limit to 1.1 ppb. In the tap water samples, the concentration of fungicides not used for rice culture was below the detection limit to 0.14 ppb, and that of fungicides for rice culture was below the detection limit to 0.16 ppb. The multi-purpose pesticides were detected all year round with a peak in summer (May-September) . Their concentration in the raw water samples ranged from 0.015 ppb to 0.6 ppb, while in the tap water samples, it was below the detection limit to 0.14 ppb.

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A comparative risk assessment for storage and destruction of PCB waste was performed. Intakes of Co-PCBs at the local (within 10 km from the destruction plant), national (Japan) and foreign (northern hemisphere excluding Japan) areas were considered. Based on a comparison between measured and estimated PCB concentrations in air and water, a previous estimate for PCB emission caused by the loss under the storage of PCB wastes was re-examined. As a result of the re-assessment, the new upper bound estimate for the PCB emission was the same as the previous estimate in case of soil, and 1/10 of the previous estimate in case of air or water. Estimated individual exposure (EIE) to Co-PCBs for the storage scenario was in the order of several pg-TEQ/person/day in Japan. In the destruction scenario, the EIE for the local area was in the range of 0.1-0. 7 pg-TEQ/person/day, which was 2-4 orders of magnitude higher than that for the national area. In both scenarios, the EIE for the foreign area was about 2 orders of magnitude lower than that for the national area. In terms of the estimated total exposure (ETE), which is defined as the product of EIE and the population, a significant contribution from the foreign area was calculated, while that from the local area was small. The difference in the spatial distributions of EIEs and ETEs revealed that it was important to consider both local and global effects in the PCB risk assessment.

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Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin like polychlorinated biphenyls (Co-PCBs) in agrochemical formulations, such as PCP and CNP, and paddy soils collected and preserved from 1960 were investigated. Different concentrations and compositions of PCDD/Fs in PCP could be found between synthesized by chlorination of phenol and hydroxylation of hexachlorobenzene. We calculated PCDD/Fs emission from PCP and CNP from 1958 to 1994. It was expected that PCDD/Fs emission from PCP was increased from early 1960s, then, rapidly reduced from early 1970s. On the other hand, that from CNP was increased from the latter half of 1960s instead of PCP.
Concentration of PCDD/Fs and TEQ in paddy soils was increased during 1960s-1970s. Then the contamination has been reduced in recent years. It can be observed that transition of OCDD and 1, 3, 6, 8-TeCDD concentrations and circulation of PCP and CNP were well agreed. Principal component analysis was applied to 2, 3, 7, 8-substituted congener contributions to TEQ to evaluate the time trends of PCDD/Fs sources in paddy soils. It was thought that contribution to TEQ by 2, 3, 7, 8-substituted congeners originated from PCP and CNP were reduced, however, that from combustion process was gradually increased in recent 20 years.

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A new extraction method, so named “High Alkali PG method”, was studied in order to develop a simply extraction method of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDDs/DFs) and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (Co-PCBs) in biological samples such as whale blubber, cow fat, pork meat, cow liver, chicken meat and fish meat. “High Alkali PG method” was composed of three reagents, water 25 ml-3 %-pyrogallol/ethanol 75 ml-15M-KOH/water 50 ml, and showed high decomposition of protein and fat, high extraction efficiency (73-116 %) of PCDDs/DFs/Co-PCBs, and high reproducibility (CV: < 10 %) of PCDDs/DFs/Co-PCBs. These results indicate that “High Alkali PG method” is useful for analysis of PCDDs/DFs and Co-PCBs in various biological samples.

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Daily variations of organochlorine pesticides in ambient air were investigated at a rural site of Niigata City. Target compounds are 10 kinds of organochlorine pesticides, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), α-, β-, γ - and δ-hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCH), trans-and cis-chlordanes, p, p'-DDE, p, p'-DDE and p, p'-DDT. HCB and α -HCH showed high values and low deviations in concentration in these compounds. On the contrary, δ-HCH and p, p'-DDD were rarely detected. Relationship between meteorological parameters (temperature, wind direction, wind speed and rainfall) and the concentrations of eight compounds, which were usually detected, was examined. Concentrations of HCB, β-HCH, trans- and cis-chlordanes were correlated negatively with wind speed, and it was suggested that these compounds would have sources around the sampling point. Concentration of β-HCH was also correlated with amount of rainfall. Concentrations of p, p'-DDE and p, p'-DDT increased when air masses mainly came from the south west and decreased when air masses came from the north or the west, which suggested the existence of sources in the direction of the south west.

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In this study, removal efficiency and adsorption characteristics of dioxins (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans=PCDD/DF) were investigated in principal adsorbents (an artificial zeolite derived from fly ash, activated alumina and activated carbon) equipped in the exhaust gas line of a small size incinerator. In any adsorbents, the removal rate of vapor PCDD/DF was over 95 percent, and relatively low in lower chlorinated PCDD/DF-congeners. These data suggest that the adsorption mechanism is mainly due to physical adsorption.Furthermore, in activated alumina, a significant positive correlation (p<0.01) was found between the removal rate and the retention time on polar column (SP-2331) on vapor PCDD/DF-isomers and, suggest that the removal rate of vapor PCDD/DF-isomers was affected by the interaction between dioxins and polar sites of adsorbent.

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A precise and simple method was examined for the determination of boron in environmental samples. The sample was digested with HF/HNO₃/HClO₄/H₃PO₄, then boron was determined by ICP/AES. The addition of phosphoric acid proved to be effective to prevent any volatilization loss of boron during digestion of sample and evaporation of the resulting solution.
Analytical results of ten standard reference materials showed good agreement with the provisional values or literature values. The precision for the determination of boron (relative standard deviation at 3 determinations) was 1.0-4.2% when LKSD-1-4 were analyzed. Sediments, rock, coal fly ash and soil values determined using the proposed digestion method were comparable to those obtained using conventional sodium carbonate fusion method.
The concentration in river, lake and marine sediments in Kanagawa prefecture were detected in the range from 4.09-44.2μg/g (average 21.3μg/g) .

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O- (4-trifluoromethoxybenzyl) hydroxylamine (TBFA) has been developed as a derivatizing reagent for the determination of aldehydes in air. Round robin tests using this reagent for formaldehyde (FA) and acetaldehyde (AA) were conducted by 15 laboratories. Three kinds of test samples were analyzed by each laboratories: a) a silica cartridge of TFBA (TF-A) on which the gaseous sample of FA was collected. b) a silica cartridge of TFBA (TF-B) to which TFBA derivative of AA was added. c) the acetonitrile solution (TF-C) of TFBA derivatives of FA and AA. TFBA derivatives were eluted from the cartridge with acetonitrile, and then determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) .
The mean observed values after rejection tests were coincident with the calculated ones, and the intralaboratory relative standard deviations (RSD) of the ratios of the observed value to the calculated ones were in the rage of 4.7-12.8 % and the interlaboratory RSD of their ratios were 15.1-17.5 % except for that of TF-B (33.5 %) . These results indicated that this new method was comparable to the DNPH (2, 4-dinitrophenylhydrazine) method widely used for the determination of aldehydes in air.

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In this study, removal efficiency and adsorption characteristics of dioxins (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans = PCDD/DF, and coplaner polychlorinated biphenyls) were investigated in activated alumina equipped in the exhaust gas line of small size incinerator. When model wastes containing 3 % polyvinyl chloride resin were incenerated, the concentrations of dioxins in the final treatment gas were 0.19 to 0.33 ng-TEQ/Nm³, which were adequately below the regulation (5 ng-TEQ/Nm³) . The removal rate was relatively high in higher chlorinated dioxin-congeners. Furthermore removal rates of acidic gas suches HCl, NO_x and SO₂ were also relatively high. By these results, it was found that activated alumina, as well as artificial zeolite, was effective for the removal treatment of dioxins in exhaust gas.

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