Kazutoshi Sugita

Survey of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans and polychlorinated biphenyls in urban air

PCDD, PCDF and PCB concentration levels in urban air were measured by HRGC/HRMS system. The seasonal variations in PCDD/DF and PCB were only slight. The concentration levels of PCDD/DF in winter were higher than in summer but concentration levels of PCB in summer were higher than in winter. It seems that low chorinated biphenyls in back-ground evapolate to air in summer. The TEqs in urban air were estimated by method of Safe et al., PCDF contributed to toxicity mainly in urban air.

GAS/PARTICLE AND SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS OF POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS IN AMBIENT AIR IN TOKYO 2001–2002

By using an Andersen sampler equipped with a low-pressure impactor, samples of 12 size-classified (>0.13 μm to <12 μm) airborne particles and samples of gaseous components were taken from the air in Tokyo for continuous periods of 19 weeks in the summer of 2001 and 17 weeks in the winter of 2001–2. The sampling filters were changed weekly. The concentrations of eight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the particulate and gas-phase samples were measured by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection. Pyrene was detected in the gas phase in both summer and winter: 59% of the total pyrene detected was present in the gas phase in summer, but this fraction decreased to 40% in winter. In the particle fractions, the summer levels of benzo[k]fluoranthene (BkF), dibenz[a,h]anthracene (dBahA), and benzo[a]anthracene (BaA) peaked in particles of diameter 1.25 μm, and benzo[ghi]perylene (BghiP), benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[b]chrysene (BbC), and dibenzo[a,e]pyrene (dBaeP) peaked in particles of diameter 0.76 μm. In winter, BkF, BghiP, BaA, BbC, and dBaeP levels peaked in particles of diameter 0.52 μm, whereas dBahA peaked in particles of diameter 0.76 μm.

Isolation and some Properties of Bacteria that Degrade Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Abstract Four bacteria, which could grow on pyrene as the sole source of carbon, were isolated from soil from an urban area in Tokyo. One of them, strain H2-5, was a rod bacterium that was positive in gram staining and in acid-fast staining. The optimum growth temperature was 34-35°C, and the upper limit temperature for the growth was around 45°C. At a concentration of 1.3 μg/ml polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), H2-5 cells (45 μg dry weight/ml) grown on Tryptic Soy Broth made disappear 90% of pyrene in 12 hr, and Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), Benz(a)-anthracene (BaA), and Benzo(ghi)perylene individually disappeared 60%, 25%, and 8%, respectively, in 3 days. PAHs in the extract by dichloromethane from airborne particles in approximately 5 m3 of air disappeared by the action of H2-5 as follows: pyrene, 100% in 3 days; BaA and BaP, 70% and 71%, respectively, in 4 days. Pyrene in tarry matter extracted from soil disappeared 88% in 4 days.

MEASUREMENT OF CONCENTRATIONS OF POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS AND DIOXIN COMPOUNDS IN CANINE LUNGS

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and dioxin compounds remaining in canine lungs were measured with an alkaline decomposition method employing KOH/ethanol. PAHs extracted from the lungs of 31 dogs were between 0.07 and 0.47 ng/wet-g (mean: 0.19 ng/wet-g) for BaA; 0.03 and 0.16 ng/wet-g (mean: 0.08 ng/wet-g) for BkF; 0.05 and 0.29 ng/wet-g (mean: 0.13 ng/wet-g) for BaP; and 0.05 and 0.35 ng/wet-g (mean: 0.17 ng/wet-g) for BghiP. Dioxin concentrations were between 0.047 and 0.870 pg-TEQ/wet-g (mean: 0.179 pg-TEQ/wet-g). There were big differences between the PAH concentrations and dioxin concentrations in the canine lungs. Strong relationships were observed between individual PAHs (r = 0.73–0.95). In this study, we detected PAHs and dioxins in all samples, confirming that canine lungs were contaminated by those pollutants.