Recycling and consumption in Germany and Japan: a case of toilet paper

This paper compares the recycling attitudes of consumers in Germany and Japan, based on our nationwide questionnaires. We analyzed consumption behavior as well as recycling behavior in narrow sense, because it is important to study the former to see how the supply of recycled materials is balanced with the demand, particularly in Japan which exports little recycled materials. Toilet paper was adopted as a specific good for study, because consumers have options of buying virgin products and recycled products. It was found that German households pay for waste collection specifically and have higher recycling rates than Japanese households. On the other hand, similar figures in German and Japanese consumers were observed with regard to consumption of recycled products. Their purchasing criteria and preference on virgin and recycled products of toilet paper were examined by self-report and blind test with 2×2 experimental design for toilet paper (German versus Japanese, virgin versus recycled). Blind test showed that people prefer domestic and virgin products in both countries. Half of respondents rating virgin products guessed that the products contained recycled material. For Japanese, the material of the sample toilet paper, made from virgin pulp, seems to be a more determining factor than the nationality of products, i.e. made in Japan. On the other hand, for Germans, the domestic nature seems to be a more dominant factor than the material, i.e. made from virgin material. Canonical discriminant analysis in conjunction with logistic regression based on self-reporting data detected the characters ‘multiplied’, ‘appearance’ and ‘brand’ as major factors making the difference in preference between the two countries. The possible reasons causing the similarity and dissimilarity between the two countries are discussed with reference to the background history.     

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Pcbs) Pollution in Sea of Japan

Abstract

Deep waters of the Sea of Japan and surface waters of the Pacific Coast of Honshu and the northeast Sea of Japan were analysed for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) pollution. the ΣPCB concentrations in solution in the Sea of Japan (50–3000 m) were between 140 and 1230 fg dm_?3. the space-integrated surface water concentration near the Pacific coast of northern Honshu was 140 fg dm_?3and for the surface water of the Sea of Japan was 230 fg dm_?3. Based on these analyses four water masses were deduced in the Sea of Japan during the summer months. It is shown for the first time in the Sea of Japan that polychlorinated biphenyls are excellent chemical indicators of not only the anthropogenic pollution, but also water masses.     

Design and Application of Multi-layer Starch-Latex Blends as Phosphorous Delivery System

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - The search for highly productive agriculture has considerably increased the use of fertilizers, becoming a worrying source of environmental and health...     

Electrophoretic patterns of serum proteins in the blood of four species of puff-fish,genus Fugu,and their F1 hybrids

In a series of hematological investigations to analyze species characteristics and ecological factors controlling the distribution of marine fish, comparisons of the electrophoretic patterns of the serum proteins in the blood of four species of puff-fish (Fugu rubripes, F. xanthopterus, F. poecilonotus and F. pardalis) and two artificial F₁ hybrids (male F. rubripesxfemale F. xanthopterus; female F. poecilonotusxmale F. pardalis) were made by using the cellulose acetate membrane technique. The number of components, as well as the position and ratio of each component, differed from species to species and with sex. The serum protein pattern of the F₁ hybrid was much the same as that derived from the arithmetic mean of the parental patterns. The opening made in a portion of the abdomen to sample the blood directly from the auricle could be sutured successfully by biotissue glue Biobond.Contribution No. 220 from the Seikai Regional Fisheries Research Laboratory, Nagasaki.     

Dissolved black carbon in grassland streams: Is there an effect of recent fire history?

While the existence of black carbon as part of dissolved organic matter (DOM) has been confirmed, quantitative determinations of dissolved black carbon (DBC) in freshwater ecosystem and information on factors controlling its concentration are scarce. In this study, stream surface water samples from a series of watersheds subject to different burn frequencies in Konza Prairie (Kansas, USA) were collected in order to determine if recent fire history has a noticeable effect on DBC concentration. The DBC levels detected ranged from 0.04 to 0.11 mg L^?1, accounting for ca. 3.32 ± 0.51% of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). No correlation was found between DBC concentration and neither fire frequency nor time since last burn. We suggest that limited DBC flux is related to high burning efficiency, possibly greater export during periods of high discharge and/or the continuous export of DBC over long time scales. A linear correlation between DOC and DBC concentrations was observed, suggesting the export mechanisms determining DOC and DBC concentrations are likely coupled. The potential influence of fire history was less than the influence of other factors controlling the DOC and DBC dynamics in this ecosystem. Assuming similar conditions and processes apply in grasslands elsewhere, extrapolation to a global scale would suggest a global grasslands flux of DBC on the order of 0.14 Mt carbon year^?1.     

Polychlorinated biphenyls and -naphthalenes in pine needles and soil from Poland--concentrations and patterns in view of long-term environmental monitoring

Pine needles were selected as cost effective and easy collectable matrices suitable for long-term monitoring of the lower troposphere pollution with polychlorinated biphenyls and polychlorinated naphthalenes. The fingerprints of PCNs and PCBs in the top layers of agricultural soils were used for determination of point sources of pollution for terrestrial ecosystems. The new idea based on the use of nona- and decachlorinated isomers fingerprint as an additional tool suitable for the identification of potential point sources of pollution with PCBs, seemed to be a capable tool to identify contamination of soil and ambient air related to former manufacturing and the use of highly chlorinated technical PCB preparations.     

Health risk assessment for polychlorinated biphenyls, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans, and polychlorinated naphthalenes in seafood from Guangzhou and Zhoushan, China

This study determined the concentrations of organochlorine contaminants in common seafood in two Chinese coastal cities (Guangzhou and Zhoushan), and assessed the health risk due to the daily consumption of contaminated seafood. Twenty-six pooled samples, belonging to five food categories (fish, bivalves, shrimp, crab, and cephalopods), were purchased from local markets in Guangzhou and Zhoushan in 2003 and 2004. These samples were analyzed for total polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), non- and mono-ortho-PCBs (coplanar PCBs), polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs), and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDDs/DFs). The concentrations of total PCBs and coplanar PCBs in fish samples were higher in Guangzhou than in Zhoushan, while the levels of PCNs and PCDDs/DFs were comparable between the two cities. The total daily intake values of dioxin-like compounds were 1.05 and 0.86pg WHO-TEQ/kg body weight in Guangzhou and Zhoushan, respectively. Hazard ratios of non-cancer risk in the two cities were all less than unity.     

Ecological effects of imidacloprid on arthropod communities in and around a vegetable crop

To elucidate the ecological impacts of imidacloprid [1-(6-chloro-3-pyridylmethyl)-N-nitroimidazolidin-2-ylideneamine] on vegetable crops and their surrounding areas, arthropods on eggplant patches treated with this insecticide were monitored throughout two cultivation seasons, spring and autumn, and the results compared with those of control crops. Residues of imidacloprid in soil accounted for 4-8% of total applied, and concentrations outside the crop were always below 5 micro g/kg. Communities of the crop vegetation experienced significant density reductions, mostly of aphids, and had fewer species diversity during the first month. Those in the surrounding pasture were similarly affected though with less intensity, while non-target ground arthropods both inside and outside the crop only showed significant impacts in the two weeks after planting.     

Novel evidence for natural formation of dioxins in ball clay

Elevated concentrations of dioxins in ancient ball clay from the Mississippi Embayment suggest natural formation of dioxins in the environment. Evidence for such natural formation in ball clay derives from unique congener profiles in undisturbed ancient clay deposits and from the lack of other anthropogenic contaminants. Here we present novel evidence of natural formation of dioxins based on congener-specific carbon isotopic analysis of octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD) in ball clays from the USA and Japan. The analyses were performed using a combination of double-column high performance liquid chromatography clean-up and two-dimensional gas chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Elevated concentrations of OCDD found in ball clays from the USA and Japan were isotopically distinguished from the anthropogenic source materials (fly ash and pentachlorophenol) and environmental samples (sediment and soil). The isotopic signatures and the occurrence of OCDD in ancient ball clays deposited in the Tertiary Era provide evidence for the in situ formation of dioxins.