Developing joint educational programs in sustainability science across different universities: a case study from Japan

The challenge for sustainability educational programs lies in how to imbue students with the strong motivation necessary to move the world in a more sustainable direction. Five universities in Japan have mutually collaborated in the design and development of a unique curriculum and education system for sustainability science since 2008. Specifically, they have developed a common and remote lecture system called the “Frontier of sustainability science” (FSS). This paper discusses the concepts and challenges of FSS and how it was organized to teach students to actively learn how to work with people of various disciplines to realize interdisciplinarity.     

Comparison of general water quality of rivers in Indonesia and Japan

In Java and Kalimantan in Indonesia, river water plays important roles in human life; for example, for transportation, and economic activities of the inhabitants. However, industrial, agricultural and domestic water is discarded into rivers directly in many developing countries, including Indonesia, since drainage systems have not been completely constructed. In this study, to evaluate the water quality and to compare those levels of environmental contaminants in developing and developed countries, water quality and contents of endocrine disrupters were measured in a total of 64 water samples (Indonesia; 28 samples and Japan; 36 samples) from 53 sites. The results indicated that, rivers in both capital cities, Jakarta and Tokyo, were contaminated. Water in rivers in Indonesia was not so heavily polluted as in Japan. Pollution in the river water in Indonesia appeared to be caused by the lack of sewerage systems. In addition, the findings on endocrine disrupters indicated that the concentration of alkylphenol in water samples was large enough to affect living organisms.     

Time trend of hexabromocyclododecane in the breast milk of Japanese women

Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) is a type of brominated flame retardant. We investigated the time trend of the stereoisomer-specific concentrations of HBCD (alpha, beta, and gamma) in breast milk samples of Japanese women by using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). The pooled milk lipid samples collected in 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1999, and from 2000 to 2006 were analysed. The concentration was below the detection limit in the samples collected between 1973 and 1983 and increased in those collected since 1988. Between 1988 and 2006, alpha-HBCD was detected in all 11 breast milk samples collected from 25 to 29-year-old Japanese women; gamma-HBCD, in 7; and beta-HBCD, in none of the samples. Time trend of summation operatorHBCD appeared to be related to that of the industrial HBCD consumption level in Japan.     

Study of the effect of political measures on the citizen participation rate in recycling and on the environmental load reduction

Obtaining the cooperation of citizens to participate in separate waste collection is essential to create a recycling-oriented society. In this research, the degree of change in the citizen participation rate, which occurs when the contents of political measures such as the raising of awareness, provision of information, and the conditions of collection services were changed, was estimated together with the effect on the reduction in environmental load. A questionnaire survey was conducted, targeted at residents of Itabashi Ward, while logistic regression analyses were also conducted to create predictive models for recycling behavior, and sensitivity analyses of the models were carried out to estimate the increase in citizen participation rate achievable through the implementation of various political measures. It was found that the effect of "thorough perception of information" was the largest, followed by "minimization of evaluation of trouble" and "thorough perception of efficacy of measures." The effect of the improvement in the citizen participation rate on the reduction in environmental load was also evaluated quantitatively by life cycle inventory analyses. It was indicated that "maximization of perception of information" had the greatest effect. However, the reduction effect with "paper packs" and "PET bottles" was relatively small compared with that of "bottles/cans."     

Analysis of branched-chain fatty acids in humic substances as indices for compost maturity by pyrolysis–gas chromatography/mass spectrometry with tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH-py–GC/MS)

Parameters that affect the degree of humification for humic substances (HSs) are deeply related to the maturity of the compost. In general, the matured composts contain HSs with a higher degree of humification. In addition, microbial activities during composting are also one of the indices for compost maturation. Branched-chain fatty acids are metabolites as the result of microbial activities in a soil environment. Such branched-chain fatty acids, regarded as humic precursors, are incorporated into HSs during the composting process. To determine whether branched-chain fatty acids in HSs can be used as biomarkers during composting processes or not, HSs were extracted from three types of composts with the different maturation, and the branched-chain fatty acids in the HSs were analyzed by pyrolysis–gas chromatography/mass spectrometry with tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH-py–GC/MS). HSs with a higher degree of humification (higher aromaticity and lower molecular weight) contained higher levels of branched-chain fatty acids. These results show that branched-chain fatty acids in HSs from matured compost samples can be used as biomarkers, which indicate the history of microbial activities during overall composting process.     

Correlating pH and Swelling Degree Parameters to Understand the Sorption and Desorption Process of Diquat Herbicide from Nanocomposites Based on Polysaccharide and Clinoptilolite

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - Zeolite-based nanocomposites have become an efficient option for application in herbicide removal and controlled release systems. Our group previously...     

Photodegradation characteristics of PPCPs in water with UV treatment

The degradation characteristics of PPCPs commonly found in surface water under UV treatment were examined for 30 kinds of PPCPs using a UV/Lamp1 that emits light at a wavelength of 254 nm and a UV/Lamp2 that emits light at 254 nm and 185 nm in pure water. When a UV dose of some 230 mJ/cm² was introduced to the 30 PPCPs, photodegradation rates of about > 3% (theophylline) to 100% (diclofenac) and about > 15% (clarithromycin) to 100% (diclofenac) were observed for UV/Lamp1 and UV/Lamp2, respectively. This study also showed that UV/Lamp2, which photolyzes water molecules and generates OH radicals, is more effective for PPCP removal than UV/lamp1. It was postulated that the degradation rates of sulfamethoxazole, sulfamonomethoxine, sulfadimethoxine and sulfadimidine, all, including sulfamethoxazole, derived from sulfanilamide, under UV/Lamp1 resulted mainly from the bond-breaking reactions occurring between –SO₂– and its side atoms, the C–S bond and the N–H bond. Some PPCPs with amide bonds, such as cyclophosphamide and DEET, were highly resistant to photodegradation by UV/Lamp1. AOPs (Advanced oxidation processes) such as the UV/H₂O₂ or UV/O₃ processes should therefore be considered for their potential to remove these substances effectively.     

Development of extraction method of pharmaceuticals and their occurrences found in Japanese wastewater treatment plants

In this study, occurrence of 66 PPCPs (pharmaceuticals and personal care products) in liquid and solid phases of sewage sludge was elucidated. The extraction methods for the PPCPs from sludge were newly developed employing Pressurized Liquid Extraction (PLE) and Ultrasonic Solvent Extraction (USE). As an appropriate method, PLE using water (pH2), PLE using methanol (pH4), and USE using mixture of methanol and water (1/9,v/v, pH11) was found most effective because total recovery of most of the PPCPs indicated 40 to 130%. The developed extraction method with previously developed method for liquid phase analysis was applied to field survey at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Japan. 56 compounds were detected from the primary sludge and 61 compounds were detected from the excess sludge. The concentration was ranged between several ng/g and several μg/g. Solid-water distribution coefficient (Log K_d) ranged between 0.9 L/kg (Caffeine) and 3.7 L/kg (Levofloxacin) for primary sludge and between 1.4 L/kg (Sulpirid) and 4.3 L/kg (Mefenamic acid) for excess sludge.     

Estimation of the respiratory ventilation rate of preschool children in daily life using accelerometers

Inhalation rate is an essential factor for determining the inhaled dose of air pollutants. Here, accelerometers were used to develop regression equations for predicting the minute ventilation rate (V(E)) to estimate the daily inhalation rate in young children. Body acceleration and heart rate were measured in 29 Japanese preschool children (6 yr of age) during nine different levels of activities (lying down, sitting, standing, playing with plastic bricks, walking, building with blocks, climbing stairs, ball tossing, and running) using the Actical omnidirectional accelerometer, the ActivTracer triaxial accelerometer, and a heart rate monitor. Measurements were calibrated against the V(E) measured by the Douglas bag method. ActivTracer accelerometer measurements gave a strong correlation with V(E) (Pearson's r = 0.913), which was marginally stronger than that for the Actical counts (r = 0.886) and comparable to the correlation between heart rate and logarithmic V(E) (r = 0.909). According to the linear regression equation, the V(E) for lying down, sitting, standing, playing with plastic bricks, walking, and running was overestimated by 14-60% by the Actical and by 14-37% by the ActivTracer. By comparison, for building with blocks, climbing stairs, and ball tossing, the V(E) was underestimated by 19-23% by the Actical and by 13-18% by the ActivTracer. When these three activities were excluded, a stronger correlation was found between the V(E) and ActivTracer measurements (r = 0.949); this correlation was 0.761 for the three excluded activities. Discriminant analysis showed that the ratio between vertical and horizontal acceleration obtained by the ActivTracer could discriminate walking from building with blocks, climbing stairs, and ball tossing with a sensitivity of 75%. The error in estimating V(E) was considerably improved for the ActivTracer measurements by the use of two regression equations developed for each type of activity.     

Organochlorine concentrations in breast milk and prevalence of allergic disorders in Japanese women

Persistent organic pollutants have been shown to have immunomodulating effects in humans. However, epidemiological evidence regarding the relationships between organochlorine compound exposure and allergic disorders coming from studies of children has been limited and inconsistent. The current cross-sectional study examined the associations between the concentrations of β-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), and trans-nonachlordane in breast milk and the prevalence of allergic disorders in 124 adult Japanese women. The definition of wheeze and asthma was based on criteria from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey whereas that of eczema and rhinoconjunctivitis was based on criteria from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood. Adjustment was made for age, smoking, family history of allergic disorders, and education. The prevalence values of wheeze, asthma, eczema, and rhinoconjunctivitis in the past 12 months were 9.7%, 4.8%, 13.7%, and 29.8%, respectively. The median concentrations of β-HCH, HCB, p,p'-DDE, and trans-nonachlordane in breast milk were 28.3, 7.0, 71.6, and 23.9 ng g(-1) lipid, respectively (range, 4.5-253, 2.1-14.5, 7.5-362, and 1.8-130 ng g(-1) lipid, respectively). When the exposures were treated as continuous variables, no significant associations were found between concentrations of HCB, β-HCH, p,p'-DDE, or trans-nonachlordane and the prevalence of wheeze, asthma, eczema, or rhinoconjunctivitis. Our results suggest that concentrations of β-HCH, HCB, p,p'-DDE, and trans-nonachlordane in breast milk are not evidently associated with the prevalence of wheeze, asthma, eczema, or rhinoconjunctivitis in young female Japanese adults.