We measured the levels of mite allergens in 32 house dust samples with 2 kinds of tools for ELISA reagents and 2 kinds of tools for quick determining kits at the same time and examined the difference in the measurement value, relationship between the obtained data, the performance of the quick determining kits. Allergen levels measured by In tool were 120-190,000ng per g of fine-dust at Der f 1, 0-15,600ng at Der p 1, 120-192, 400ng at Der 1, and 2-1,880ng at Der 2, respectively. As for ELISA reagents, the difference between two methods was large in the allergen amount of Der 1, and the allergen amount of Der 2 was low in both methods, so it is necessary to increase the detection performance of the tools. Moreover, as for the quick determining kits, the relationship of the data between the kits and the ELISA reagents was high, and the usefulness of the kits was confirmed as a mite pollution index in the room.

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Element concentrations in house dust samples collected from 10 households in Metropolitan Tokyo, Japan, were measured with ICP atomic emission spectrometry and ICP mass spectrometry to obtain general information on elemental composition of house dust in Japan as well as to get an insight into the source of Pb in it. Calcium (median, 3.6%), Al (2.4%), and Fe (1.2%) were the major elements and alkali and alkaline earth elements followed. Enrichment of Cd, Cu, Pb, S, and Zn compared to the crustal abundance indicated anthropogenic pollution of house dust with these metals. Particle size generally inversely correlated with element concentration: smaller particles likely to be ingested by hand-to-mouth activity contained more pollutant metals. Factor analysis revealed large loading of Pb, together with Ba, Cr, S and Ti, on one of four factors extracted and this result indicated that Pb in house dust was from paint. Since unintentional ingestion of house dust can be significant source of Pb for Japanese children, search for Pb-containing paint in indoor environment and removal of it was suggested to be an effective countermeasure to reduce Pb exposure level of children.

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[in Japanese]

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It is a feature that the child care time is long compared with the infantile education facilities in the kindergarten and other countries though the day nursery in Japan takes care of a preschool child as well as the kindergarten. Because it is a place where children with a small months old spend a long time, the indoor environment of the day nursery is very important. It introduces the environmental setting borne in mind in author's day nursery including regulations concerning the environment that the country and the municipality provided.

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The element that composes the environment in the kindergarten is material environments of the kindergarten building and the play equipment, etc. and human environments such as nursery teachers and other infant. In this text, the environment in the kindergarten is considered based on the concrete example in which freely playing in the indoor hall.

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