Concentrations of 7 herbicides in water and fish from rivers and lakes were reviewed and the bioconcentration potential of the herbicides and their contamination in the field fish was evaluated. Although atrazine was detected at low concentrations with low frequency in water from rivers and lakes in Japan, but at high concentrations with high frequency in river waters in USA, China, Bulgaria, etc. and in lake waters from the Great Lakes, Canada. Simetryne was detected at high concentrations with high frequency in water from rivers and lakes in the paddy field areas of Japan. However, simetryne was reported only in China at the low concentration levels. Molinate and benthiocarb were similarly detected at high concentrations with high frequency in the paddy field areas of Japan, and at relatively high concentartions with frequency in river waters in USA and Italy. The concentrations of 6 herbicides except simazine in fish from rivers and lakes were estimated by the laboratory bioconcentration factors of these herbicides.

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A pre-screening method was investigated to prioritize the chemicals specified by PRTR for the Initial Risk Assessment (IRA) in order to screen the chemical risk more efficiently. In this study, the prioritization of the chemicals was attempted by calculating the Priority Grade (PG) values, which were obtained by multiplying the hazard score by the exposure score derived from PRTR data. The PG values of PRTR chemicals were analyzed with the Pseudo-Risk Map, in which the hazard and the exposure scores were plotted against horizontal and vertical axis, respectively. The Pseudo-Risk Map showed that larger the PG values of the chemicals were, earlier in the order the IRA was conducted. In addition, the prioritization of the chemicals in terms of the ecological aspect was also achieved by omitting human health effects from the hazard score, and by utilizing only emission volumes to public water. Since PG values apparently being paralleled with the results obtained from IRA for 100 chemicals, the present study provides effective methodology not only for one of the priority setting but also for the pre-screening.

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We examined the rapid determination technique of Dioxins in a screening use for incineration facilities.
Acceleration and simplification of a cleanup method was carried out, and a simple quantitative determination method of HRGC/HRMS was established. A good correlation was found between the rapid determination method and the standard method in fly ash, bottom ash and exhaust gas.
In this paper, we evaluated the usefulness of the rapid determination method as a screening use for incineration facilities. Moreover, the advantages of the rapid determination method over the standard method in terms of cost, quickness and precision is discussed.

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The estrogen and androgen in the compost produced from sewage sludge and solid waste of livestock were investigated in twenty-six kinds of composts which were sold on the open market.
Estrone (E1) was detected in all kinds of composts. 17β-estradiol (E2) was detected in twenty-one kinds of composts, and estriol (E3) was detected in one kind of compost. Ethynylestradiol (EE2) was not detected in any compost. Testosterone was detected in twelve kinds of the fifteen kinds of compost analyzed. The quantities of estrogen and androgen in the composts are as follows, El: 30580 ng/g; E2: Less than the minimum limit of detection (N.D.) -23 ng/g; E3: N.D-4 ng/g; EE2: N.D. and testosterone: N.D.-2, 100 ng/g.
Estrogenic and androgenic activities were investigated for twenty-one kinds of composts using a yeast two-hybrid assay. Estrogenic activities were confirmed with thirteen kinds of composts and androgenic activities were confirmed with two kinds of composts. The estrogenic and androgenic activities measured by using human estrogen receptor a (hERa), medaka fish estrogen receptor a (medERa) and human androgen receptor (hAR) are as follows, hERa: 14-168 pM E2 equivalency quantity (EEq) /compost (g) ; medERa: 91-581 pM EEq/compost (g) and hAR: 5-7 pM 5 a-dihydrotestosterone equivalent quantity (AEq) /compost (g) . This paper shows that sex hormones were detected in most compost produced from the sewage sludge and solid waste of livestock. Moreover, estrogenic activities were confirmed with over half of these composts.

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To examine the vertical distribution of mutagenic substances in soil, soil from the surface to the depth of 1 m was divided into 5 layers at intervals of 20 cm, and samples were collected from each layer. The mutagenicity of the solvent extract of those samples collected at 10 positions was measured by the Ames method using strains TA100, TA98, and YG1024 of Salmonella typhimurium. As a result, no unified difference was found between samples collected from the surface and those collected from deeper layers per weight of soil. In some cases, however, higher values were obtained with samples collected from the surface layer (0 to 20-cm deep) with YG1024 (±S9mix) and TA98 (-S9mix) . On the other hand, per weight of organic matter in soil, a large difference was found between those samples. In some cases, high mutagenicity (10, 000 rev./mg or higher) was observed, while in other cases, the deeper the depth, the lower (or higher) the mutagenicity.

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Melamine (2, 4, 6-triamino-1, 3, 5-triazine), a raw material of Melamine resin is considered to be an organic pollution source in environment. We developed a determination method for Melamine by LC-MS, and applied the method to liquid samples such as leachate. Target compounds were extracted with a solid phase cartridge. Method Detection Limit was calculated from the standard deviation of the result of seven replicates. The Calculated MDL, average recovery ratio and RSD was 0.018μg/l 93.4% and 2.5%, respectively. On a quantity analysis of waste related samples, the melamine was detected from all the samples tested.

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An official method for the determination of fluorine in sediments and soils regulated by Ministry of the Environment of Japan in Soil Contamination Countermeasure Law has been examined, and some improvements are proposed. The improved method is as follows: 1.00 g solid sample was ashed in muffle furnace at 550°C, then mixed it thoroughly with 5.00 g mixture of Na₂CO₃+K₂CO₃ in platinum crucible and fused for 40 min, over a Teclu burner. The sample was cooled, then the crucible was transfered in a teflon beaker and 50 ml of distilled water was added to dissolve the soluble material. The sample was filtered and acidified using (1+1) sulfuric acid, the solution was transferred to a 100 ml volumetric flask and diluted to volume with water. Subsequently aliquot of 30 ml was taken out for steam distillation to separate fluoride from interfering substances, and then distilled until 260 ml of distillate was collected. Fluoride was determined by lanthanum-alizarine complexone spectrophotometric method.
Analytical results of 4 certified reference materials (CRMs: sediment) showed good agreement with the provisional or recommended values, but in spite of the improvement the results for 2 CRMs gave 10% lower values.
The precision of the determination of fluorine (relative standard deviation at 5 determinations) was 1.0-2.4 %.
The concentration of fluorine in river sediments in Kanagawa prefecture were detected in the range from 115-176 μg/g (average 150 μg/g) .

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Aqueous 4-alkylphenol solutions were treated with hypochlorite at 20°C under various experimental conditions in the presence of bromide ion. GC-MS analysis of the diethyl ether extracts showed the occurrence of halogenophenols and storng mutagenic 2, 6-dihalogeno-4-hydroxy-4-alkylcyclohexa-2, 5-lien-l-ones (halogenoalkylsemiquinones) in the acidic chlorinated water contained bromide ion. Chlorinated waters, which were spiked with bromide ion, had up to ca. 10 times more potential halogenoalkylsemiquinone formation than waters without bromide ion. Formation of these substances in water was found to be dependent on the bromide contents, equivalents of hypochlorite to the compound and reaction pH values, in addition to the alkyl chain lengths on the phenol ring.

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A highly sensitive analytical method for measuring bisphenol A (BPA) and 8 alkylphenols using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorometric detection has been developed. Detection limits improved by using both fluorometric detection and large volume injection.
Sensitivities of the compounds with fluorometric detection were ca. 20 times higher than those with UV detection. And the sensitivities with large volume injection up to 400ul increased 20 times higher than those with 20μl injection.
Method determination limit for BPA was 0.33 ng/m³ when sample was collected by 1l/min for 24hours. And it doesn't need preconcentration and/or derivatization techniques. This method can be applied to not only the survey of the ambient air but also indoor air. The method may be applicable to the survey of environmental water, too.

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Levels of 1, 4-dioxane in raw and tap water at 15 water purification plants in Osaka prefecture, Japan, and in the Yodo River Zone were investigated. The 1, 4-dioxane levels in samples at 14 of the water purification plants ranged from <0.05 to 1.8 μg/l. These values are much lower in concentration than the 50 μg/l water quality standard for drinking water in Japan. However, over 50 μg/l of 1, 4-dioxane was detected in raw and tap water collected at one of the water purification plants surveyed. The groundwater in this water purification plant was determined to be contaminated by 1, 4-dioxane. The removal ratio of 1, 4-dioxane by water treatment was found to be inefficient, even with advanced water treatment methods. The levels of 1, 4-dioxane in the Yodo River, the main water source in the Osaka area, ranged from 0.08 to 0.91μg/l well within the acceptable level.

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Dioxins are difficult to decompose and are readily soluble in fat; these are characteristics of organic chlorine system compounds. The Ministry of the Environment has enforced “Dioxin special measures law” in 1999. The influences of the enforcement on the concentration of dioxins in human biological samples have not yet been elucidated. This study used high-resolution gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS) to measure the dioxins in breast milk from 1973 to 2004 and about the changes of the concentration of dioxins in human breast milk after the enforcement of the law.
Dioxins emitted into the environment there for a long period of time; they enter the food cycle and accumulate in humans and animals. The source of the dioxin contained in human breast milk changes with the compounds present in the environment. Dioxins and co-PCBs from agricultural chemicals and PCBs greatly decreased, while the rate of reduction of those of combustion origin was small.
The main sources of dioxins can be classified into large two groups, the combustion of garbage and industrial waste and the other. From 1973 to 2000, dioxins (high-chlorinated PCDDs, PCDFs, and low-chlorinated PCBs) derived from the manufacturing process pesticides and PCB products were yearly decreased. However, the pentachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (PeCDD) and hexachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (HxCDD) derived from the combustion, which are having high TEF, decreased slightly.After 2001, two years past from the enforcement of the law, the changes of the trends of dioxins in human breast milk have been observed. The contribution of PCDDs derived from the combustion to the total TEQ are decreasing. This would be one of the effects brought by the enforcement of the law. The law could change the trends of dioxins in biological samples of human and animals in the near future.

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A suppressed ion method for the determination method of eight organic acids (formic, malonic, lactic, acetic, malefic, citric, fumaric, and propionic acid) has been studied for reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) with a new triacontyl groups (C₃₀) column, coupled with an ultraviolet detector (UV) at 210 nm. A 50 mM ammonium dihydrogenphosphate (NH₄H₂PO₄) aqueous solution (pH 2.0) containing phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄) was used as an optimal mobile phase for the separation of eight organic acids. A good linearity of the calibration curve was obtained in the concentration range of 5 mgl^-1 to 100 mgl^-1 (|r| =0.9999-0.9994) . The detection limit based on S/N=3 were 3.8 mgl^-1 for formic acid, 3.5 mgl^-1 for malonic acid, 3.1 mgl^-1 for lactic acid, 3.4 mgl^-1 for acetic acid, 1.1 mgl^-1 for maleic acid, 3.4 mgl^-1 for citric acid, 3.3 mgl^-1 for fumaric acid, and 3.6 mgl^-1 for propionic acid. This analytical method was successfully applied to the determination of eight organic acids in sake and wine.

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