Development of a novel scheme for rapid screening for environmental micropollutants in emergency situations (REPE) and its application for comprehensive analysis of tsunami sediments deposited by the great east Japan earthquake.

The tsunami triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011, the strongest quake ever recorded in Japan, deposited tsunami sediments along the coastline of the affected area. Because the sediments contained a wide variety of hazardous chemicals, including organic micropollutants, a method for rapidly evaluating the environmental and human health risks of such chemicals is necessary. For this purpose, we propose a novel three-step scheme designated "rapid screening for environmental micropollutants in emergency situations (REPE)". In the first step, samples are subjected to target screening analysis using an automated identification and quantification system (TSA-AIQS) involving gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In the second step, the chemicals detected by TSA-AIQS analysis are quantified precisely by conventional target analysis. The third step is risk assessment of the target chemicals. TSA-AIQS analysis of the tsunami sediments detected 63 substances, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (both native and alkylated PAHs) at high concentrations. These PAHs were precisely quantified by target analysis, and the concentrations were used to assess the health risks posed by oral intake, which were found to be negligible. Our results suggest that the REPE scheme will be useful for rapid, comprehensive screening and risk assessment in emergency situations.

Dietary patterns and serum of DDT concentrations among reproductive-aged group of women in Bangladesh.

This research was conducted in order to propose ways to reduce human exposure to DDT, especially for women of reproductive age in Bangladesh, and to find a relation between DDT exposure levels in serum and questionnaire information including sociodemographic and food frequency (FFQ). In this study, a significant relationship was found between the education level and BMI, and the serum p,p'-DDE concentration. This result suggests that people with higher education (relating to higher income) and BMI in Bangladesh actively buy expensive foodstuff, like meat and/or fatty fish, which relates to a higher fat intake. Additionally, a weak positive relationship between p,p'-DDE concentration in serum and the frequency of beef consumption was observed among the nullipara women subgroup. In a previous study, beef and fish showed large contributions on DDT intake of Bangladesh population. Those results suggest that the control of fatty food consumption such as meat (beef) and marine fish might help to regulate the levels of DDT.

Variability and reliability of POP concentrations in multiple breast milk samples collected from the same mothers.

Risk assessment of infant using a realistic persistent organic pollutant (POP) exposure through breast milk is essential to devise future regulation of POPs. However, recent investigations have demonstrated that POP levels in breast milk collected from the same mother showed a wide range of variation daily and monthly. To estimate the appropriate sample size of breast milk from the same mother to obtain reliable POP concentrations, breast milk samples were collected from five mothers living in Japan from 2006 to 2012. Milk samples from each mother were collected 3 to 6 times a day through 3 to 7 days consecutively. Food samples as the duplicated method were collected from two mothers during the period of breast milk sample collection. Those were employed for POP (PCBs, DDTs, chlordanes, and HCB) analysis. PCB concentrations detected in breast milk samples showed a wide range of variation which was maximum 63 and 60% of relative standard deviation (RSD) in lipid and wet weight basis, respectively. The time course trend of those variations among the mothers did not show any typical pattern. A larger amount of PCB intake through food seemed to affect 10 h after those concentrations in breast milk in lipid weight basis. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) analyses indicated that the appropriate sample size for good reproducibility of POP concentrations in breast milk required at least two samples for lipid and wet weight basis.