Subsequent development of cholangiocarcinoma caused by exposure to 1,2-dichloropropane and/or dichloromethane in the printing company in Osaka, Japan.

After the report of 17 patients with occupational cholangiocarcinoma caused by long-term exposure to high concentrations of 1,2-dichloropropane and/or dichloromethane in a printing company in Osaka in 2014, additional five patients were diagnosed to have such cholangiocarcinoma. Cholangiocarcinoma was detected during regular health examination or follow-up for liver dysfunction in four of the five patients. Nearly all five patients presented with clinicopathological findings such as an elevated γ-glutamyl transpeptidase activity at the diagnosis, regional dilatation of intrahepatic bile ducts without tumor-induced obstruction, chronic bile duct injury, and precancerous/early cancerous lesions (biliary intraepithelial neoplasia and intraductal papillary neoplasm of the bile duct) at various sites of the bile duct.

Urinary benzyl alcohol and hippuric acid in workers exposed to benzyl alcohol during paint-stripping work.

Objective: We aimed to develop a reliable gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method for detecting urinary benzyl alcohol (BeOH) concentrations and assess the suitability of urinary BeOH as a biomarker for occupational BeOH exposure.

Methods: Thirteen male participants exposed to BeOH during paint-stripping work provided preshift and postshift urine samples, and their personal exposure concentrations were measured. Meanwhile, a control group of 10 nonexposed workers contributed urine samples.

Total syntheses of borolithochromes H1, H2, I1, and I2.

Total syntheses of borolithochromes H1, H2, I1, and I2, the red pigments isolated from fossils of Jurassic putative red alga Solenopora jurassica, have been achieved. The naphthoquinone possessing a chiral sec-butyl side chain has been synthesized from (S)-2-methylbutanol. The Diels-Alder reaction of the chiral naphthoquinone and the previously reported diene was followed by one pot S-methylation/intramolecular Corey-Chaykovsky reaction/epoxide rearrangement to provide the benzo[gh]tetraphene skeleton.

Effects of temperature on plant growth and arsenic removal efficiency of Pteris vittata in purifying arsenic-contaminated water in winter: A two-year year-round field study.

Phytoremediation is a cost-effective and eco-friendly alternative method for arsenic (As) contaminated water treatment. This study conducted a two-year year-round field study (cycle1 and cycle2) in a temperate area (Sendai, Japan) using small As-hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata seedlings to reduce pre-cultivation time and associated costs. The number of seedlings was changed from 256 in the cycle1 period to 165 in the cycle2 period to evaluate the As removal efficiency of P.