The quality of air is an important factor affecting our health, and the levels of concentration of air pollutants sometimes have a critical effect on our daily life. In this review, methods of measurements of various air pollutants are described stressing newly developed methods and techniques until 1987. In these measurements, analytical methods themselves are not so much different from other samples, but air pollutants mostly require special techniques in sampling. However, general standard methods have not yet been set up for sampling of air pollutants. For airborne particulate matter, a world wide agreement was not obtained in sampling method for the analysis of trace elements in aerosol. This review starts with sampling methods of air pollutants, describing PM-10 and PM-15 by U. S. EPA for particulates, and also describes the methods of separate collection of gaseous and particulate matter by filter methods and/or denuder methods. Then, the methods of measurement of each component are described with recent informations.

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Urethane, ethylcarbamate, which is known to be carcinogenic, teratogenic and mutagenic, was reported to be contaminated in various kinds of alcoholic beverages. Therefore, removal of urethane or prevention of its formation from alcoholic beverages is an urgent problem in all over the world. The present review describes, 1. toxicity of urethane, 2. methods of its measurement, 3. mechanism of its formation and 4. prevention of its formation. Urethane was chemically produced from carbamyl compounds and ethyl alcohol by heating in an acidic condition of fermentation. For example, urethane (20-60 ppb) in sake and wine was produced from urea as a major carbamyl source during sterilization process or long-term storage. Urethane contamination levels were dependent upon acidicity, temperature, periods of time and the concentrations of urea and of ethyl alcohol. Acid urease, whose optimal pH lies around 4, obtained from Lactobacillus reuterii lowered urea concentrations in sake and wine, whose pHs are acidic (pH 4.4 and 3.2, respectively). On the basis of these results, enzymatic removal of urea with acid urease during or after fermentation processes and before heating or storage prevented the urethane formation in sake and probably in other alcoholic beverages. Urethanase which hydrolyzes urethane in the acidic region in high ethyl alcohol concentrations is expected to be useful for the elimination of a potentially hazardous compound once formed in distilled alcoholic beverages.

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Methods for effective removal of nitrogen compounds in wastewater by the use of immobilized nitrifying bacteria were investigated. Six gels of natural (k-carrageenan) and artificial (polyacrylamide, photosensitive resin (ENTG3800), urethane polymer, polyelectrolyte polymer and photocrosslinkable resin (PVA-SbQ)) polymers were tested for immobilization of bacteria. Cells immobilized in polyacrylamide and ENTG3800 gels did not show the nitrifying activity, whereas cells in polyelectrolyte polymer complex and PVA-SbQ gels showed stable and constant activity. Therefore the latter two gels were examined to see whether their fundamental characteristics were appropriate for application to wastewater treatment, and their usefulness was evaluated. Although cells immobilized in polyelectrolyte polymer complex gel showed durable and stable nitrifying activity, the high cost and technical difficulty of the preparation represent serious drawbacks. Preparation of PVA-SbQ gel was easy, and immobilized nitrifying bacteria in the gel showed almost the same activity as the free cells. Furthermore, the immobilized cells were more stable than the free cells to low temperature and acidic pH. These results suggest that nitrifying bacteria immobilized in PVA-SbQ gel might be practically useful for removal of nitrogen compounds in wastewater.

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A simple and sensitive method was developed for simultaneous determinations of blood nicotine and its major metabolite, cotinine. The two-step extraction method using 0.5 ml of serum was performed without evaporation, and quantification was carried out by gas chromatography with a flame thermionic detector. The reproducibility of this method was good, and the recovery was about 100% (99-101%). Linearity was observed in the range of 5-40 ng/ml for nicotine and 50-400 ng/ml for cotinine The detection limit, expressed as the concentration in the test sample, was about 0.1 ng/ml for nicotine and 1 ng/ml for cotinine. Blood nicotine and cotinine levels were determined by this method in smokers, and their pharmacokinetics were evaluated. The half-life of blood nicotine using a 2-compartment model was 9.2 min in the α phase and 67.6 min in the β phase, and that of cotinine using a 1-compartment model was 30.7 h.

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A simple and rapid analysis for identification of aloenin in foods containing Aloe arborescens MILL. by thin layer chromatography (TLC) has been developed. The extract with water was cleaned-up on C18 disposable cartridge. After evaporation to dryness and dissolving the residue in methanol, the solution was spotted on a silica gel TLC plate, and the plate was developed with ethyl acetate-methanol-water (100 : 16.5 : 13.5). Aloenin was visualyzed by spraying the plate with the p-anisaldehyde or the Vaughn's reagent as pink or bluish violet spot, respectively. The detection limit of aloenin by using these reagents was ca. 0.5 μg. The quantitative determination of aloenin in foods by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has also been developed. Aloenin was separated on a Inertsil ODS-2 column with methanol-water (30 : 70) as a mobile phase, and detected at 293 nm using ethenzamide as the internal standard. The calibration curve was linear in a range of 2.0-50.0 μg. The minimum detectable concentration of aloenin in foods was ca. 0.03 mg/g. The contents of aloenin in aloe materials and foods such as candy and jelly were 5.3-13.9 and 0.013-12.5 mg/g, respectively. The proposed methods using TLC and HPLC are easily and reliably applicable for the characterization and estimation of Aloe arborescens M. in foods containing aloe.

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The method for the removal of nutrient salts and phenol from water by use of aquatic plant Myriophyllum brasiliense CAMB. was investigated to improve the quality of water in eutrophic lakes. The values for the ability of M. brasiliense to remove nitrate nitrogen, Kjeldahl nitrogen, and orthophosphate phosphorus from a synthetic 10% Hoagland's solution were 66, 24, 20mg·kg^-1·d^-1, respectively, and that for the ability of removal of phenol from a 25% Hoagland's solution containing 100 mg·1^-1 of phenol was 534 mg·kg^-1·d^-1. M. brasiliense was also used to remove nitrogen and phosphorus effectively from the water of Lake Tega-numa, similarly to the synthetic solution. These results indicate that the ability of M. brasiliense to remove nitrogen, phosphorus, and phenol is superior or comparable to that of waterhyacinth known as the plant capable for removing water nutrients.

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The amounts of homologous series of linear Alkylbenzenesulfonates (LAS) in water and sediment were measured as free and complex LAS by using methylene blue colorimetry and high-performance liquid chromatography. The amounts of Quaternary ammonium surfactants (QAC) were also measured by Orange-II colorimetry with cation exchange column chromatography. The concentrations of free and complex LAS in the influent sewage and the river water were found at the levels varying 0.37 to 4.1 mg/l, and 0.09 to 0.58 mg/l respectively, and QAC was found at the levels of 0.05 to 0.15 mg/l. The percentages of QAC which contribute to complex LAS in the water were estimated at the value ranging from 21 to 73%. The concentrations of free and complex LAS in the river sediment were found at levels varying 0.66 to 120 μg/g, and 0.54 to 52 μg/g, and QAC was found at the levels varying 6.2 to 69 μg/g. The results obtained in this study suggest that the adsorption of complex LAS to the river sediment is more likely to that of free LAS, and, furthermore, LAS with longer alkyl chain length is preferentially adsorbed. It is considered that free QAC is adsorbed faster than complex QAC in the river sediment, and the biodegradations of LAS and QAC in the sediment are much slower than their adsorption.

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The concentration of metallothionein in the liver of mice injected with hepatotoxins was determined, and the following results were obtained. 1. The concentration of metallothionein in the mouse liver was increased by the injection of o-acetaminophenol, acetaminophen, bromobenzene, carbon tetrachloride, 6-mercaptopurine or naphthylisothiocyanate. 2. The compounds causing fatty liver were injected to mice, and eight of 15 compounds examined increased the concentration of metallothionein in the liver. 3. Colchicine increased the concentration of zinc-thionein in the liver. The potency of colchicine inducting metallothionein was as high as that of cadmium. These results indicate that the concentration of metallothionein can increase in such a case of hepatic disorder.

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The daily intake of 10 kinds of metals in meals collected from 25 women living in and around Sendai and from 27 women in Okinawa, was analysed through the duplicate portion method. Results are given below ; 1) The daily intake of contaminated metals, Cd and Pb, was insignificant. 2) The daily intake of Mg and K was above the requirement for all women. 3) The average daily intake of Zn was above the requirement. However, the percentages of women in Sendai and Okinawa who fell below this requirement were 32.0% and 11.1%, respectively. 4) The daily intake of Cu, Fe, Ca and Mg was below the requirement level for most of women. 5) The percentage of women whose daily intake of Na was above the desirable intake was 20.0% for Sendai and 14.8% for Okinawa. 6) Regional differences between Sendai and Okinawa of the daily intake of metals were analyzed. It was found that the intake of Pb was higher for Sendai (p<0.05), whereas the intake of Zn and Ca was higher for Okinawa (Zn ; p<0.05, Ca ; p<0.01). There were no obvious differences found for other metals analyzed. Concentration of Na was found to be higher for Sendai (p<0.05).

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We had investigated the daily intakes of chlordane from diets by the duplicate portion method from 1985 through 1987. In 1987, we had an opportunity of analyzing samples of Okinawa and we examined the regional difference of the data between Sendai and Okinawa. The level of daily intakes of trans-chlordane, cis-chlordane, trans-nonachlor, cis-nonachlor and total-chlordane in Okinawa were generally higher than those in Sendai (p<0.01). The daily intake of total-chlordane in Okinawa (1.3μg/d) reached approximately 2.4 times that in Sendai (0.55μg/d). The pattern of chlordane components contained in daily diet was much similar to that of horse mackerrel.

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