High levels of organochlorines in mothers' milk from Chennai (Madras) city, India

Mothers' milk from Chennai (formerly Madras), India and three other places Perungudi, the municipal dumping site of south Chennai area (situated at the suburb of Chennai), Chidambaram, a predominantly agricultural town situated 250 km south of Chennai and Parangipettai, a fishing village 15 km north of Chidambaram, all situated at or near the southeastern Bay of Bengal coast of India were found to contain measurable concentrations of HCHs, DDTs, PCBs, CHLs and HCB. A notable finding in this study is that Chennai mothers have higher levels of HCHs in their milk and hence may transfer considerably higher amounts of the chemical than the mothers from all the other three places of the present study indicating a higher health risk to Chennai's children. It was also found that the levels of the two organochlorine pesticides (HCHs and DDTs) increased in Chennai mothers' milk in the last decade. Food items collected from Chennai markets did not show any remarkably higher levels of any of the chemicals measured in this study. Levels of the two classical organochlorines (DDTs and HCHs) have declined in many of the food items when compared with our data collected two decades before in the same locations, showing the effectiveness of the recent ban on both these chemicals in the country. The sources, possible health risks and the ways to curtail the effects of HCHs, especially at Chennai, should be investigated further.     

A research on dioxin generation from the industrial waste incineration

By using fluidized-bed furnace and rotary-kiln+stoker furnace and four different kinds of industrial wastes such as waste wood, coffee mill, waste oils and waste plastics, we have drawn the following conclusions:

(1) A relationship between H6CBz and DXN is acquired, which is DXN=0.34×H6CBz^1.1.

(2) The following means of emission reduction can be considered. (a) Reduction of DXN and Cl accumulation within the furnace, (b) control by the incinerated object, (c) control through the precursors of H6CBz, (d) improvement through operational control, (e) ammonia injection into the high-temperature zone of the furnace seems to be effective in reducing DXN and (f) DXN concentration is high with CO above 1800 ppm, though it decreases with CO below ≈10 ppm.     

Preliminary rearing experiments on the larvae of Sergestes lucens (Penaedia,Natantia, Decapoda)

Sergestes lucens Hansen, a mesopelagic shrimp fished commercially in Suruga Bay, Japan, was successfully reared from egg to post-larval stage V under laboratory conditions. Chaetoceros ceratosporum and Artemia nauplii were found to be satisfactory food in the laboratory during rearing. Growth, mortality, food preference, and feeding and swimming activities during the various developmental stages were investigated. Temperature changes greatly affected the speed of development and the mortality of the larvae. The optimum temperature range for larval development was 18° to 25°C. The growth rate (length) of larval stages was as rapid as 0.16mm/ day at 20 °C and 0.21 mm/day at 23 °C. The larvae first started feeding on phytoplankton at elaphocaris stage I, and then gradually became predators in the post-larval stages. It is suggested that the critical period for the species occurs in the elaphocaris stages. Environmental data, vertical distribution of the species, and data obtained from laboratory experiments suggest that the fluctuation in the abundance of S. lucens is greatly influenced by the water temperature at around 50 m from June to August. Feeding mechanisms observed in the post-larval stages are described.     

An Attempt at Preventing Asthenopia Among VDT Workers

We report the results of 3 surveys of visual display terminal (VDT) users who took a minibreak during which they viewed a stereoscopic image of a repeating parallel pattern showing planets. The single image stereogram method employed is called Stretch Eye^TM, and we evaluated the effects of Stretch Eye^TM on asthenopia. An accommodative relaxation of about 1 D was observed in participants while they were gazing at the image. The employees of 2 information technology companies were evaluated according to a visual analogue scale (VAS) for subjective symptoms of asthenopia and eyesight. The results showed that Stretch Eye^TM was effective in easing visual fatigue due to VDT work and it improved eyesight under working conditions.     

Analysis of biomagnification of persistent organic pollutants in the aquatic food web of the Mekong Delta, South Vietnam using stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes

The present study elucidated the biomagnification profiles of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) through a tropical aquatic food web of Vietnam based on trophic characterization using stable nitrogen analysis. Various biological samples collected from the main stream of the Mekong Delta were provided for the analysis for both POPs, and stable nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios. Of the POPs analyzed, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and its metabolites (DDTs) were the predominant contaminants with concentrations ranging from 0.058 to 12 ng/g wet weight, followed by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at 0.017-8.9 ng/g, chlordane compounds (CHLs) at 0.0043-0.76 ng/g, tris-4-chlorophenyl methane (TCPMe) at N.D.-0.26 ng/g, hexachlorocyclohexane isomers (HCHs) at N.D.-0.20 ng/g and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) at 0.0021-0.096 ng/g. Significant positive increases of concentrations in DDTs, CHLs, and TCPMe against the stable nitrogen ratio (delta(15)N) were detected, while, concentrations of HCHs and HCB showed no significant increase. The slopes of the regression equations between the log-transformed concentrations of these POPs and delta(15)N were used as indices of biomagnification. The slopes of the POPs for which positive biomagnification was detected ranged from 0.149 to 0.177 on a wet weight basis. The slopes of DDTs and CHLs were less than those reported for a marine food web of the Arctic Ocean, indicating that less biomagnification had occurred in the tropical food web. Of the isomers of CHLs, unlike the studies of the Arctic Ocean, oxychlordane did not undergo significant biomagnification through the food web of the Mekong Delta. This difference is considered to be due to a lack of marine mammals, which might metabolize cis- and trans-chlordane to oxychlordane, in the Mekong Delta ecosystem. The biomagnification profile of TCPMe is reported for the first time in the present study.     

The Impact of Global NGOs on Japanese Press Coverage of Climate Negotiations: An Analysis of the New “Background Media Strategy”

This article assesses the success of WWF Japan’s “Background Media Strategy” in influencing Japanese mainstream news outlets’ coverage of climate change negotiations. WWF Japan adopted this “Background Media Strategy” after the Bali COP in 2007; instead of lobbying, it aims to build journalists’ expertise. This article examines its success after seven years through three research approaches: the analysis of participant lists; two surveys (conducted in 2009 and 2015); and a content analysis of climate change articles that appeared in four large mainstream newspapers between April and July 2015. Based on these different data, the author concludes that the new media strategy was successful: Japanese journalists increasingly rely on information provided by WWF Japan and less on information provided by the government and industry. This experiment suggests that a new relationship between global NGOs and the media can improve environmental communications—an approach that could help advocacy groups around the world.     

Classification of juvenile rockfish,<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Sebastes inermis</Emphasis>, to<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Zostera</Emphasis> and<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Sargassum</Emphasis> beds,using the macrostructure and chemistry of otoliths

Young-of-the-year (YOY) Sebastes inermis use Zostera and Sargassum beds as nursery grounds, although it is not known which habitat YOY prefer. In this study, YOY S. inermis were accurately assigned to Zostera or Sargassum beds by two approaches: the width and length of the otolith nucleus and the composition of trace elements in otoliths. The otolith nucleus was initially opaque and then showed a marked shift to hyaline deposition once YOY settled in the nursery grounds. The first hyaline zone (FHZ) was deposited earlier in Zostera beds (from mid-May to early June) than in Sargassum beds (around mid-summer). Likewise, irrespective of settlement year, the FHZ was formed at both significantly younger ages and shorter back-calculated sizes (total length, TL) in the Zostera bed (overall mean: 131±3 days; 2.5±1.7 mm TL) than in the Sargassum bed (overall mean: 158±12 days; 61.3±1.00 mm TL). YOY collected in the Zostera bed were born earlier (mainly in January) than YOY from the Sargassum bed (mainly in February). In addition, a significant linear relationship was found between the age at formation of the FHZ and nucleus dimensions, suggesting that nucleus dimensions were a reliable macroscopic indicator of the time of formation of the FHZ and, consequently, also an indicator of the nursery where YOY grew. Linear discriminant function analysis (LDFA) based on the width and length of the otolith nucleus could distinguish juveniles from Zostera (88–96%) and Sargassum (96–97%) beds with a high degree of accuracy. In the other approach, six detectable trace elements (Li, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Ba) in otoliths of YOY collected in the nursery grounds were measured by high-resolution, inductively coupled mass spectrometry. LDFA based on the trace elemental composition separated YOY from three nurseries with 100% of accuracy. Findings suggest that both the trace elemental composition and nucleus dimensions of otoliths can be used as natural tags of the nursery grounds of S. inermis, offering a considerable potential for answering questions on habitat use and the contribution of nursery grounds to the adult stock.Communicated by T. Ikeda, Hakodate