N-Acetyl-p-aminophenol (acetaminophen) is one of the main metabolites of acetophenetidine (phenacetin), which was proved to be a carcinogen. Ishidate and Odashima have found that acetaminophen itself induced chromosomal aberrations in cultured Chinese hamster cells. The repair test by the rec-assay also gave a positive result (Kada et al., unpublished data). These results prompted us to perform an experiment of long-term administration of acetaminophen in B6C3F1 mice.
During the preparation of this article Flaks and Flaks have reported that acetaminophen is tumorigenic in mice of the IF strain. The difference between results of the present study and the results obtained by Flaks and Flaks is briefly discussed.

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Yamamoto et al. (1982)1) attempted cytogenetic analysis of artificial abortion cases in the first trimester before clinical spontaneous abortion in order to elucidate the mechanism of appearance of chromosome anomalies. The factors studied were the presence of diseases, X-ray therapy, medication, smoking and alcohol drinking. However, statistical analysis could be performed mainly for X-ray therapy and medication alone, because the number of patients exposed to any other factor was too small.
In such an epidemiological study, analysis of factors involved in the appearance of chromosome anomalies is difficult, especially when tests for significance can not be done adequately because the frequency of an anomaly is low or the number of subjects exposed to a certain factor is small. The present study was carried out using an animal model to investigate the cytogenetic effects of maternal alcohol ingestion which has been difficult to analyze in the epidemiological study in humans.
The following studies have been made thus far on the effects of ethyl alcohol (abbreviated to alcohol in this paper) on fetuses.
Ulleland (1972)²⁾ reported one possibility of cause-and-effect relationship between mothers as habitual drinkers and low body-weight neonatus with retarded growth and development. Jones et al. (1973)^{3, 4)} paid attention to the presence of several fetuses with characteristic anomalies from habitual alcohol drinking mothers and called them "fetal alcohol syndrome", emphasizing the relationship between alcohol ingestion and anomalies. Since then, several other similar reports have been advanced. In addition, teratogenicity of alcohol ingestion has as yet not been sufficiently elucidated. There are also many reports on the relationship between alcohol ingestion and chromosome anomalies. Rieger and Michaelis (1967)⁵⁾ reported that chromosome anomalies which were the same as those induced by the alkylating agent, a representative mutagen, were noted when the root cap cells of vicia fava were exposed to alcohol. Bregman (1971)⁶⁾ noted that the number of chromatid-type chromosome anomalies increased when human lymphocytes were added to 1.2% alcohol and cultured for 4 or 48 hours. It has also been reported that the frequency of sister chromatid exchange (SCE) increased as a result of addition of alcohol or acetaldehyde^{7, 8)} and that of chromosome anomalies was elevated in peripheral lymphocytes of alcoholics^{9, 10)}. However, there are only a few reports on the appearance of chromosome anomalies in children from habitual alcohol drinking mothers. Accordingly, the persent study was carried out using an animal model to elucidate the cytogenetic effects of maternal alcohol ingestion on fetuses, especially the appearance of anomalies such as trisomy and monosomy and the possibility of other structural chromosome anomalies.

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A hundred and twenty 21 day-old Wistar male rats were divided into four groups: each group was given drinking water containing 0 (control), 1, 5 and 10ppm of cadmium daily. After four weeks, a hematological test, bending and compressive strength tests of the long bones and a cadmium determination of bone were carried out. The right femur and humerus were used for the bending test, and the left ones for the compressive test. The compressive strength of the diaphysis and the metaphysis were measured respectively by using the crosscut portions of bone.
The bending strength, elasticity and deflection were statistically insignificant between the control and the cadmium groups. The strength to resist the compressive stress, which is a component of the bending stress, reduced in the diaphysis of the 5 and 10ppm groups and in the metaphysis of the 10ppm group. Dose related changes in the elasticity and deformation in compression tests were not observed.
The hematological results of the 1ppm group were not different from those of the control group. In the 5 and 10ppm groups, anemia, decrease in serum iron and BUN and increase in serum phosphorus were observed, and the differences between the control and the 10ppm groups were larger than those between the control and the 5ppm groups. In the 10ppm group, the serum Alp activity also decreased.
The cadmium concentrations were 12.7±8.4, 20.6±8.4, 74.3±18.7 and 127.3±23.2ng/g dry weight of the femur and 10.1±2.8, 17.0±4.3, 101.0±22.5 and 134.5±35.4ng/g dry weight of the humerus in the control, 1, 5 and 10ppm groups respectively.

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A questionnaire related to cigarette smoking habits was administerd to 4303 boys and 4172 girls from eleven junior high schools in 1983. 4168 boys and 4081 girls were classified into four groups; Non-smoker, Experimental smoker, Ex-smoker, Current smoker. The results were as follows: 1) 37.8% of boys and 18.1% of girls had experience in smoking. The rate of current smokers, 6.9% for boys and 2.4% for girls, was higher in boys than in girls. 2) Concerning their first motive to smoke, means of getting cigarettes and places to smoke, a significant difference was recognized among the three groups; experimental smoker, ex-smoker, current smoker. Moreover, there were significant differences among pupils who smoked their first cigarette in elementary school and pupils who smoked it in junior high school. 3) About 50% of the ex-smokers had smoked for less than six months. Most of them stopped smoking by themselves. 4) Most of the current smokers consumed more than six cigarettes per day. A large number of current smokers bought the cigarettes and smoked at a friend's house, in private rooms, or out-ofdoors.

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An accident resulting in the inhalation of H₂S, which was generated from the quenching water which cools hot ash, occured at the municipal solid waste incineration plant of H city in 1980. As a result, five workers died suddenly. They entered into the quenching water storage tank to pierce a plugged water pipe without protection masks. At that time, the odor of H₂S in the space of the tank was very weak.
This investigation was done to clarify the cause of accident involving H₂S generation from the quenching water and to consider an inprovement plan for the process. The results obtained are as follows:
1. A large amount of H₂S seemed to be held within the sediments of the water storage tank, and were exhaled rapidly inside the tank when the water storage tank was disturbed by the workers footsteps.
2. It has been clarified that a large amount of sludge containing sulfide was apt to accumulate in a short period to the bottom of each tank, as the reduction efficiency for the sludge in the circulating water was very low in this quenching water treatment process.
3. H₂S in the sludge of the water storage tank was thought to exist as small amounts of foam. Further, it is suggested that the H₂S might be converted from the sulfide in the ash and the added coagulants from the action of bacteria. In addition, the concentration of H₂S in the quenching water, 30% of which was sludge, was considerably higher than the theoretical solubility of the pure water.

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The purpose of this study is to examine the use of blood chemical tests as health indices by studies on the changes of nutrient intakes. These figures are taken from 278 healthy males in Tokushima prefecture.
Appling multiple regression and factor analysis, we found the following results.
1. Dietary intakes of energy and sugar correlated significantly with hemoglobin content, hematocrit and whole blood specific gravity. These tests also correlated with primary factors (size factors) indicative of the whole range nutrient intakes. Hematocrit was most effected by nutrient intakes in the blood chemical tests.
2. Dietary intakes of energy, sugar, and vitamin C correlated significantly with serum GOT, GPT activity. Serum GPT activity was most effected by vitamin C intake.
3. ZTT values were effected by age, sugar and vegetable protein. High inverse correlation was observed between ZTT values and primary factors.
4. Total serum cholesterol correlated only with animal fat intake.

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The author investigated the levels of various trace elements in scalp hair, which were measured by Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) emission spectrometry and atomic absorption spectrometry, and studied the physiological implications of these measurements with regard to age and sex. The subjects consisted of 129 Japanese children and adolescences (75 males and 54 females) from 1 to 19 years of age.
The following results were obtained:
The levels of zinc, phosphorus, calcium and magnesium increased with age, and iron, aluminum and manganese decreased. High contents of zinc, calcium, magnesium and copper in females, and sodium, potassium, iron, aluminum and manganese in males were revealed for all four age groups. Thus, if the appropriate levels of hair elements are discussed, the factors of age and sex must also be considered.
Based on principal component analysis for the eleven elements, they can be divided into two main groups. The first group consists of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, mercury and copper, which correlate positively with age; the other consists of iron, manganese, aluminum, potassium and sodium, which correlate negatively with age. The principal component scores of each individuals correlate strongly with their age. The patterns of hair elements is greatly influenced by age, and it changes together with growth.

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Studies on serum lipo- and apo-proteins have rapidly progressed in recent years since epidemiologic studies demonstrated that there is a negative correlation between the concentration of high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-cholesterol) and the occurrence of coronary heart disease, and that HDL, especially HDL2, is an anti-atherogenic factor.
On one hand, the stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHRSP) which was established in 1974, develops arterial fat deposition by high-fat and -cholesterol (HFC) feeding, and is suggested as a useful model for studies on atherosclerosis.
In this report, we investigated 1) serum lipo- and apo-proteins in male SHRSP in comparison with those in age-matched male Kyo: Wistar rat (WKY), and 2) alterations of serum lipo- and apo-proteins in both strains by HFC feeding. In particular, alterations of HDL subfractions were examined by Heparin-Sepharose 4B affinity chromatography.
First, various lipoproteins were fractionated from rat serum by density gradient ultracentrifugation, followed by characterization with various polyacrylamide gel electrophoreses. Next, HDL fraction was subfractionated into two distinct subclasses, HDL rich in apoprotein A-I (Apo A-I HDL) and HDL rich in apoprotein E (Apo E HDL), by Heparin-Sepharose 4B affinity chromatography.
We noticed that the content of Apo E HDL including HDL1 in SHRSP was much lower than that in WKY, which was associated with lower content of Apo E in low density lipoprotein- (LDL-) and HDL-fractions of SHRSP. But, it remains to be determined whether the decreased content of Apo E HDL in SHRSP is due to genetic factors or the secondary effects of hypertension.
In WKY on HFC diet, there was a decrease of Apo E HDL associated with a decrease of Apo E in HDL fraction and an increase of both Apo E and Apo B in LDL- and very low density lipoprotein-(VLDL-) fractions. In SHRSP on HFC diet, the changes were more drastic than those in WKY. Not only Apo E HDL but also Apo A-I HDL decreased, wchich was associated with a decrease of both Apo E and Apo A-I in HDL fraction and a small increase of Apo E and large increase of Apo B in LDL- and VLDL-fractions. These remarkable changes of lipo- and apo-proteins in SHRSP resulted in the decrease of total HDL and the rapid elevation of serum total cholesterol, which could induce the development of arterial fat deposition.

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A simple and direct method for determining lead in blood by flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry was developed by modifying the method of Hodges and Skelding (1983). In the present method, a graphite tube was coated with molybdenum and both Triton X-100 and phosphoric acid were added to heparinized whole blood. The calibration curve for lead determination, prepared by adding standard lead solution to the pooled blood of normal mice, had good linearity until 200μg/dl of blood, and it showed low blank and good reproducibility. Limit of detection was 3μg/dl. The result of blood lead levels of Pb-exposed mice obtained by using the calibration curve showed good agreement with those obtained by the standard addition method. An application of this calibration method from normal blood will be available to determine rapidly the blood lead levels in many samples.

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