Environmental status and management in Chiba Prefecture

Chiba Prefecture is located in the east of Tokyo Metropolis. A large scale development of industrial and residential areas began in the late 1950s until then the main industries of the prefecture were agriculture and fisheries. During the past 30 years rapid industrialization and urbanization took place resulting in occurrence of various environmental problems.In an attempt to establish a better environment condition towards 21st century Chiba Prefecture has made Environmental Plan which all the municipal governments, enterprises and inhabitants should observe to realize better environment.     

High abundance of gaseous and particulate 4-oxopentanal in the forestal atmosphere

Atmospheric concentrations of 4-oxopentanal (4-OPA) in both gas and particulate phase were measured at the experimental forest, 200 km north of Sapporo, Japan, from August 13 to 15, 2001. 4-OPA was collected using an annular denuder sampling system and measured with a gas chromatography employing benzylhydroxyl oxime derivatization. Its gas phase concentrations ranged from 180 ng m(-3) (44 pptv) to 1570 ng m(-3) (384 pptv), whereas those in the particulate phase were from below the detection limit (25 ng m(-3)) to 207 ng m(-3). The particulate 4-OPA accounted for 28% (particle/(gas+particle)) of the total concentration as the maximum at 06:00 on August 15th (average: 10%). The particulate concentrations of 4-OPA were found to be comparable to those of pinonic acid, indicating that 4-OPA is also an important constituent of organic aerosols in the forestal atmosphere. Here, we report, for the first time, the concentrations of 4-OPA in both gas and particulate phase and its diurnal variations in the forestal atmosphere.     

Differences in productivities between the Great Australian Bight and the Gulf of Carpentaria,Australia, in summer

Phytoplankton standing crop (chlorophyll a) and primary productivity were recorded, and zooplankton biomass was estimated in the two large bays of Australia, the Great Australian Bight on the south coast (December, 1965) and the Gulf of Carpentaria on the north coast (December, 1968). In the Gulf of Carpentaria, the phytoplankton standing crop (average, 27.3 mg chlorophyll a m^-2) and primary productivity (average, 133.1 mg C m^-2 h^-1), as well as zooplankton biomass (average, 305.3 mg wet weight m^-3) are much higher than in the Great Australian Bight (12.1 mg chlorophyll a m^-2, 18.2 mg C m^-2 h^-1, 7.1 mg wet weight m^-3, respectively). The unexpectedly low productivity values in the Great Australian Bight are attributable to environmental conditions of this bay, which obtains neither replenishment of nutrients from the land nor receives upwelling of deep water.     

Atmospheric Budget of Non-Seasalt Chlorine in the Kanto District,Japan

To evaluate the influence of anthropogenic emission of HCl on the air quality in the Kanto district of Japan, the atmospheric budgetof non-seasalt Cl (nssCl) was analyzed. The Kanto district, which consists of the Tokyo metropolis and the six surrounding prefectures, is the most densely populated region in Japan. The emission intensity of HCl is extremely high compared with those in other regions and most western countries. In this study, the annual wet and dry depositions of nssClwere estimated on a 0.25 × 0.25° grid over the Kanto district based on the concentration monitoring resultsand meteorological data. The budget analysis was conducted by comparing the estimated deposition with the emission of HCl. As a result, the annual total (wet + dry) deposition of nssCl was estimated to be 32 kt yr^-1, which closely agreed with HCl emission (36 kt yr^-1) from waste incineration in this area. The result suggested that the anthropogenic emission of HCl had a significant influence on the air quality and the deposition of acidity in this area.     

Airborne myxomycete spores: detection using molecular techniques

Myxomycetes are organisms characterized by a life cycle that includes a fruiting body stage. Myxomycete fruiting bodies contain spores, and wind dispersal of the spores is considered important for this organism to colonize new areas. In this study, the presence of airborne myxomycetes and the temporal changes in the myxomycete composition of atmospheric particles (aerosols) were investigated with a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method for Didymiaceae and Physaraceae. Twenty-one aerosol samples were collected on the roof of a three-story building located in Sapporo, Hokkaido Island, northern Japan. PCR analysis of DNA extracts from the aerosol samples indicated the presence of airborne myxomycetes in all the samples, except for the one collected during the snowfall season. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis of the PCR products showed seasonally varying banding patterns. The detected DGGE bands were subjected to sequence analyses, and four out of nine obtained sequences were identical to those of fruiting body samples collected in Hokkaido Island. It appears that the difference in the fruiting period of each species was correlated with the seasonal changes in the myxomycete composition of the aerosols. Molecular evidence shows that newly formed spores are released and dispersed in the air, suggesting that wind-driven dispersal of spores is an important process in the life history of myxomycetes. This study is the first to detect airborne myxomycetes with the use of molecular ecological analyses and to characterize their seasonal distribution.     

Development of waste gasification and gas reforming system for municipal solid waste (MSW)

To achieve both high-efficiency power generation and high detoxification performance, advanced-type waste power generation plants such as pyrolysis and gas reforming plants are suggested. Further surveys on actual operational data of these plants are required in terms of reliability of the system when it is introduced to waste disposal sites. To verify the technical effectiveness of advanced-type waste power generation using the pyrolysis and gas reforming method, we evaluated 10?tons/day of municipal solid wastes (MSW) treated in a demonstration plant. A demonstration test was conducted over 100?days including 35?consecutive days of operation treating MSWs. The test results show high recycling performance and harmless nature of the plant which proves it to be an excellent waste recycling system. Major test results are as follows: (1) stabilization of waste treatment is possible with the wastes of various qualities, (2) clean gas is produced from the waste whose energy recovery ratio is approximately 40?%. (3) 99.3?% weight % of dried waste are recovered as valuable materials such as clean gas, char and metal, (4) total amount of dioxin emission to the outside of the plant is very small, down to 0.0051–0.018?μg?TEQ per ton waste.     

Cetacean DNA fingerprinting using the oligonucleotide (GGAT)4 as a probe

Since the discovery in 1985 of hypervariable minisatellite regions in human DNA, DNA fingerprinting has been widely used in animals and plants. Although many different probes have been developed recently, most investigators still use 33.15 and 33.6 human polycore minisatellites for hybridization studies of cetaceans. This animal order shows considerably less variability than humans, and thus some limitations have to be taken into account when using these probes. The present study demonstrates that the short repetitive tandem oligonucleotide (GGAT)₄ hybridizes with cetacean (Globicephala macrorhynchus andGrampus griseus) DNA, yielding individual-specific patterns of bands or DNA fingerprints. Freedom of design and shorter hybridization times of oligonucleotides allow an increase in the number of usable probes used, helping to overcome some of the problems found when only human polycore minisatellites are used.