Variations of anthropogenic CO2 in urban area deduced by radiocarbon concentration in modern tree rings

Radiocarbon concentration in the atmosphere is significantly lower in areas where man-made emissions of carbon dioxide occur. This phenomenon is known as Suess effect, and is caused by the contamination of clean air with non-radioactive carbon from fossil fuel combustion. The effect is more strongly observed in industrial and densely populated urban areas. Measurements of carbon isotope concentrations in a study area can be compared to those from areas of clear air in order to estimate the amount of carbon dioxide emission from fossil fuel combustion by using a simple mathematical model. This can be calculated using the simple mathematical model. The result of the mathematical model followed in this study suggests that the use of annual rings of trees to obtain the secular variations of 14C concentration of atmospheric CO2 can be useful and efficient for environmental monitoring and modeling of the carbon distribution in local scale.     

Metabolism of 3-hydroxybenzo (a) pyrene in rat,isolated hepatocytes and kidney

After intravenous injection of 3-hydroxybenzo (a) pyrene into rat, benzo (a) pyrene-diols were detected in urine, and $\text{in vitro}$ experiment using isolated hepatocytes and sliced kidney also indicated the metabolism of 3-hydroxybenzo (a) pyrene to diol derivatives. THese results suggested the presence of unknown metabolic pathway of benzo (a) pyrene-phenols such as 3-hydroxybenzo (a) pyrene to diol derivatives both $\text{in vivo}$ and $\text{in vitro}$.     

Algal growth inhibition by river water pollutants in the agricultural area around Lake Biwa, Japan

An ecotoxicological study of river water discharged from the agricultural area around Lake Biwa was performed by using algal bioassays to guide chemical analysis. Water samples were collected once a week, at least, for 1 year starting in April 1997 and continuing until April 1998. The toxicities of the dissolved and particulate-adsorbed extracts of water samples were evaluated by the algal growth inhibition test and concentrations of individual pesticides were determined. Most of the river water that was collected during the periods when pesticides were applied to the paddy fields caused algal growth inhibition. Some extracts were found to contain herbicides (molinate, mefenacet, simetryn, or esprocarb) as major compounds. According to chemical assay and bioassay, simetryn was identified as the most toxic compound that caused algal growth inhibition.     

Decolorization of mixtures of different reactive textile dyes by the white-rot basidiomycete Phanerochaete sordida and inhibitory effect of polyvinyl alcohol

We tried to decolorize mixtures of four reactive textile dyes, including azo and anthraquinone dyes, by a white-rot basidiomycete Phanerochaete sordida. P. sordida decolorized dye mixtures (200 mg l-1 each) by 90% within 48 h in nitrogen-limited glucose-ammonium media. Decolorization of dye mixtures needed Mn2+ and Tween 80 in the media. Manganese peroxidase (MnP) played a major role in dye decolorization by P. sordida. Decolorization of dye mixtures by P. sordida was partially inhibited by polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) that wastewaters from textile industries often contain. This was caused by an inhibitory effect of PVA on the decolorization of Reactive Red 120 (RR120) with MnP reaction system. Second addition of Tween 80 to the reaction mixtures in the presence of PVA improved the decolorization of RR120. These results suggest that PVA could interfere with lipid peroxidation or subsequent attack to the dye.     

Intracellular localization of vanadium in the fan worm Pseudopotamilla occelata

A very high level of vanadium was found to be contained in the polychaete worm Pseudopotamilla occelata collected in 1992–1993 from the Sanriku coast on the main island of Japan. The vanadium concentration (mean±SD=5500±1800 g g^-1 dry wt) in the worm's branchial crown which is composed of many bipinnate radioles was approximately 100 times higher than that (mean±SD=60±25 g g^-1 dry wt) in the trunk body. Electron probe X-ray microanalysis revealed that a large amount of vanadium was present in the outer potion of the epidermis of the bipinnate radiole. Analytical electron microscopy for a cryo-section of the bipinnate radioles indicated that vanadium was localized in electron-dense deposits in the apical portion of epidermal cells. From an examination of the fine structures, the locality of the electron-dense deposits were found to correspond to that of the apical vacuoles in the epidermal cells. It was concluded that most of the vanadium in P. occelata was contained in the vacuoles of the epidermal cells of the bipinnate radioles.     

Role of the bivalveCorbicula japonica in the nitrogen cycle in a mesohaline lagoon

The effect of the bivalveCorbicula japonica on the nitrogen cycle in Lake Shinji, a mesohaline brackish lagoon in Japan, was examined quantitatively based on field surveys and laboratory experiments carried out in the summer of 1982 and 1983. The biomass of the flesh ofC. japonica comprised 97% of the total biomass of the macrozoobenthos in summer. Total biomass ofC. japonica in the lake was estimated 30 986 t fresh wt. The concentration of suspended solids immediately above the lake bottom, whereC. japonica filters the water, was 1.5 to 4 times higher than that in the surface water. In laboratory experiments, the filtration rate was 5.0 litres g dry flesh wt^-1 h^-1, the excretion rates of ammonia and of feces and pseudofeces ofC. japonica were 200×10^-6 g N g dry flesh wt^-1 h^-1 and 33.4 mg dry wt g dry flesh wt^-1 h^-1, respectively at 27°C, the average summer water temperature in the lake. From our study, we estimated thatC. japonica filters almost the same amounts of particulate organic nitrogen produced in the lake by phytoplankton and that supplied from rivers, and that it excretes 30% of filtered nitrogen as feces or pseudofeces and 18% as ammonia.     

A comprehensive assessment system for the maritime traffic environment

It is desirable when drawing up a maritime traffic environmental project or a project for consolidating port and harbour facilities, that the safety of the maritime environment for shipping-traffic is assessed quantitatively, and that the rationale of a given project and the proposed safety measures are evaluated in an objective manner.In this report, the system flow and procedures to integrally assess the safety of the maritime traffic environment by systematically combining various simulation techniques are discussed first.Subsequently, the quantitative risk evaluation procedure for collisions of ships in waters with a high traffic density, among the assessment procedures above, and an outline of the shipping traffic flow simulation capable of reproducing ships′ movements, are described. In evaluating the results of simulations, a method introducing Subjective Judgement values (SJ-values) as indexes manifesting the subjective degree of danger felt by shiphandlers, is shown. The SJ-values were experimentally determined from simulator experiments using parameters representing the relation ship with other ships proceeding in the vicinity.Finally, some of the results of studies conducted for the recent construction of new LNG berths in Tokyo Bay are introduced as an example of practical safety assessment in this field.     

Effects of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on thyroid function in infants born in Japan – the second report from research on environmental health

Dioxins (PCDD + PCDF) and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) are potentially hazardous compounds and have structural similarity to thyroid hormones. Our research group on “Dioxins and PCB in Human Milk” was organized in 1997 and has been active for the past three years. We collected breast milk from 80 mothers living in Tokyo, Saitama, Ishikawa and Osaka Prefecture in Japan at 5, 30, 150, 300 postpartum days and measured PCDDs, PCDFs and PCBs during 1998–1999. We added another 20 prefectures and cities during 1999–2000. Breast milk was obtained from 415 mothers at 30 postpartum days (breast-feeding group). Blood was taken from infants who were breast-fed at the age of 1 year for evaluation of thyroid and immune functions. Blood was also taken from 53 infants who were bottle-fed (bottle-feeding group) as a control. Serum T4, T3, FT4 and TSH levels in the breast-feeding (n=337) and bottle-feeding (n=53) groups were within normal ranges and were not significantly different between the two groups. Although there were a large geographic differences of dioxins and co-PCB content in breast milk, there were no differences in serum T4, T3, FT4, TSH levels and no significant correlation between the mean serum levels of TSH and TEQ in breast milk. There was a significant correlation between serum TSH at 1 year of age and that from blood on dried filter paper TSH at 5 days of age. We concluded that dioxin intake from breast milk in Japanese infants did not impair thyroid function. However, long-term effects remain to be evaluated.     

Spatial variability in habitat associations of pre- and post-settlement stages of coral reef fishes at Ishigaki Island,Japan

Successful settlement of pelagic fish larvae into benthic juvenile habitats may be enhanced by a shortened settlement period, since it limits larval exposure to predation in the new habitat. Because the spatial distribution of marine fish larvae immediately prior to settlement versus during settlement was unknown, field experiments were conducted at Ishigaki Island (Japan) using light trap sampling and underwater visual belt transect surveys to investigate the spatial distribution patterns of selected pre- and post-settlement fishes (Acanthuridae, Pomacentridae, Chaetodonidae and Lethrinidae) among four habitats (seagrass bed, coral rubble, branching coral and tabular coral). The results highlighted two patterns: patterns 1, pre- and post-settlement individuals showing a ubiquitous distribution among the four habitats (Acanthuridae) and pattern 2, pre-settlement individuals distributed in all habitats, but post-settlement individuals restricted to coral (most species of Pomacentridae and Chaetodontidae) or seagrass habitats (Lethrinidae). The first pattern minimizes the transition time between the larval pelagic stage and acquisition of a benthic reef habitat, the latter leading immediately to a juvenile lifestyle. In contrast, the second pattern is characterized by high settlement habitat selectivity by larvae and/or differential mortality immediately after settlement.