It is well known that organotin (OT) compounds, which are used as effective antifouling biocides, have deleterious effects on nontarget marine organisms when released into water from the coatings applied to boat hulls, and environmental studies have indicated OT contamination of the marine environment on a worldwide scale. In October 2001, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted the International Convention on the Control of Harmful Antifouling Systems (AFS Convention), which prohibited the use of OTs as active ingredients in antifouling systems for ships. Following the international restrictions on the use of OT-based antifoulants, paint manufactures have developed many alternative products. In Japan, more than 20 chemical substances have been used or proposed as alternative compounds.
In the present study, Sea-nine211, KH101, Diuron, Irgarol 1051 and the latter's degradation product M1 were investigated in water from Hiroshima Bay.
Concentrations of Sea-nine211, Diuron, Irgarol 1051 and M1 in water samples were in the range of <0.023-0.10μg/l, <0. 040-0.43μg/l, <0. 092μg/l, <0. 031-1.3μg/l, respectively. KH101 was not detected in the water samples.

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Artificial apparatus with inside stack sampler (type-I stack sampler) for the measurement of sublimable boron compounds in exhaust gas was developed. A filter holder with 3-stage filters of 25 mm φ was inserted into the stack. The first stage was Teflon filter for particle collection. The second and third stages were the cellulose filters impregnated with K₂CO₃ to capture the gaseous compounds. The boron compounds were extracted from the filters by ultrasonic extraction with ultra pure water. The concentration of boron was measured by ICP-MS. The limit of quantification for boron was 0.3 μg/m³.

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Aqueous 3-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyanisole (BHA) and 3, 5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxytoluene (BHT) solutions, as antioxidants, were treated with chlorine under various experimental conditions. Diethyl ether extracts from the chlorinated waters were determined by gas chromatography (GC) and GC-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for their product distributions, and for their mutagenic effects on TA98 and TA100 strains with and without S9 mix. Chlorination of BHA in aqueous solution produced oxidative and dealkylation compounds, as major products and their chlorine-substituted compounds, as minor one. On the other hand, chlorination of BHT in aqueous solution gave hydroxylated BHT (BHT-OH), as major product and chlorine-substituted compounds, as minor one. Aqueous chlorination of BHA solution also produced the compound (s) with a weak mutagenic response on the TA100 in the absence of S9 mix, but no mutagenic effect was detected for the aqueous chlorination products of BHT. The formation of some of these compounds is dependent on the equivalents of chlorine per mole of compound and the reaction pH.

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The diethyl ether extracts from aqueous 4-methylphenol solutions in the presence of bromide ion after treatment with chlorine were mutagenic to the Ames salmonella test strain TA100 in the absence of rat liver homogenate. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) showed the occurrence of halogenated products in the extracts: bromo-4-methylphenols, bromo-4-methylquinones and brominated 4-methylphenol dimers. The diethyl ether extracts were fractionated into several fractions by polyamide thin-layer chromatography (TLC) . The fractionated components were examined for mutagenicity by means of Ames assays, and were identified by GC/MS. TLC fraction of the extracts revealed that two components present in the extracts are mutagenic. GC/MS analysis indicated the presence of 2, 6-dibromo-4-hydroxy-4-methylcyclohexa-2, 5-lien-1-one (2, 6-dibromotolquinol) as the major mutagen and brominated 4-methylphenol dimers as minor mutagenic compounds in the chlorinated 4-methylphenol solutions containing bromide ion. Production of 2, 6-dibromotolquinol in water was found to be dependent on the equivalents of chlorine per mole of compound and the reaction pH.

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Linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS), an anionic surfactant, is considered to be an organic pollution source in rivers and lakes. It is known that the LAS discharged into the water environment gradually decomposes to sulfophenyl carboxylic acid (SPC) . We developed a simultaneous determination method for LAS and SPC by utilizing LC/ESI/MS, and applied the method to water and sediment samples taken from rivers, estuaries and tidal flats in Kumamoto. The concentration levels of LAS (C10-C14) and SPC (C7-C12) in the river were 70.6-254, μg/l and<2.49-81.9, μg/l, respectively. The LAS and SPC in the sediments were not detected at all or were found to be at very low levels. It was suggested that the residual tendency of LAS and SPC would be low.
In regards to the eco-toxicological evaluation of LAS and SPC using a yeast two-hybrid assay, neither LAS nor SPC had estrogenic activity. As the result of YTOX test, EC₂₀ of LAS was from 30 to 60 times as low as that of SPC.

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