Possible beneficial effects of health counseling, given less frequently than ordinary, on blood pressure.

This study was initiated to investigate the effects of health counseling under Total Health Promotion Plan (THP). The study populations consisted of 1,655 working men who had an initial THP-based counseling and a follow-up 3 yr later (the THP group; the counseling was given on a once-three year basis), and 1,655 age- and body mass index (BMI)-matched controls (working men who had no health counseling; the control group). In the THP group, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and the prevalence of excessive alcohol drinking were decreased, and nutritional score was improved, although BMI was increased.

Changes in tubular dysfunction marker levels in parallel with the levels of copper, rather than cadmium, in urine of middle-aged women in non-polluted areas.

Objective: This study was initiated to investigate if and to what extent the elevations in urinary alpha(1)- and beta(2)-microglobulins (alpha(1)-MG and beta(2)-MG, respectively) are specific to Cd nephro-toxicity.

Methods: Stored urine samples, collected from 1,000 adult women in 11 prefectures all over Japan, were analysed for eight elements (Ca, Cd, Co, Cu, Mg, Mn, Ni and Zn), alpha(1)-MG, beta(2)-MG, creatinine (CR) and specific gravity (SG); the data were cited from previous publications. The levels of eight elements and two MGs were expressed as observed and after correction for CR or SG (1.

Reference values for cobalt, copper, manganese, and nickel in urine among women of the general population in Japan.

Objective: The present study was initiated to establish the reference levels of Co, Cu, Mn, and Ni in urine of women in the general Japanese population.

Methods: Stored urine samples were subjected to the analysis. The samples were collected from 1,000 adult women all over Japan, who had no occupational exposure to these elements.

Relation of average and highest solvent vapor concentrations in workplaces in small to medium enterprises and large enterprises.

The present study was initiated to examine the relationship between the workplace concentrations and the estimated highest concentrations in solvent workplaces (SWPs), with special references to enterprise size and types of solvent work. Results of survey conducted in 1010 SWPs in 156 enterprises were taken as a database. Workplace air was sampled at > or = 5 crosses in each SWP following a grid sampling strategy.

Field survey on types of organic solvents used in enterprises of various sizes.

Objective: To examine (1) common types of organic solvent work and prevalent types of solvent used, and (2) possible association of high solvent concentration with types of solvent work and with enterprise size.

Methods: The present survey was conducted in Kyoto, Japan, in April 2004 to March 2005. Air samples were collected in 1,010 solvent workplaces (SWPs) (>or=5 samples/SWP) in 156 enterprises of various sizes, and analyzed for 47 legally designated organic solvents by flame-ionization detector-equipped gas-liquid chromatography.

The threshold cadmium level that causes a substantial increase in beta2-microglobulin in urine of general populations.

Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic element ubiquitous in the environment, and general populations have been exposed to this element primarily via foods. Thus, the critical level of non-occupational Cd exposure to cause any health effects among general populations is of public health as well as toxicological concern. The objectives of the present study were to examine the quantitative relationship between cadmium (Cd-U) and beta2-microglobulin in urine (beta2-MG-U) as a marker of exposure to Cd and as a marker of renal tubular dysfunction, respectively, and to identify a threshold Cd-U, if present, in causing a substantial increase in beta2-MG-U.

Lead levels in urine of never-smoking adult women in non-polluted areas in Japan, with references to cadmium levels in urine.

The present study was initiated to assess current level of general population exposure to lead (Pb) in terms of Pb in urine (Pb-U). For this purpose, spot urine samples were collected from 2,332 never-smoking adult women in 10 areas all-over Japan, and were subjected to analysis for Pb-U by graphite furnace atomic absorption (GFAA). Data on cadmium in urine (Cd-U) as measured by GFAA were cited from a previous publication).

Dietary cadmium intake in polluted and non-polluted areas in Japan in the past and in the present.

Objective: The purpose of this data compilation is to overview past and current dietary exposure (primarily via rice) of general populations to cadmium (Cd) in environmentally polluted and non-polluted areas in Japan, and to compare the levels with counterpart levels in other areas in Asia.

Methods: A literature survey was conducted for publications on this subject, in either Japanese or international languages, since the early 1970s. Most of the studies identified employed the food-duplicate method in combination with atomic absorption spectrometry for Cd determination, although a few studies utilized other methods, such as the market basket method and dithizon-colorimetry.

Rice as the most influential source of cadmium intake among general Japanese population.

The objective of the present study is to examine whether rice is still a leading source of cadmium (Cd) burden among general populations in Japan. For this purpose, 10 prefectures were selected from all over Japan (including the northern- and southern-most Hokkaido and Okinawa prefecture, respectively). Cadmium levels in urine of never-smoking women (corrected for creatinine; Cd-Ucr) were compared with the rice- and wheat product-based Cd intake, which were estimated from Cd contents in rice and wheat (in the forms of bread, noodle and flour) consumed by residents in the areas, and per-capita daily consumption of rice and wheat.

Effects of iron-deficiency anemia on cadmium uptake or kidney dysfunction are essentially nil among women in general population in Japan.

In the present study, 1476 adult women in 6 prefectures in Japan volunteered to offer peripheral blood and spot urine samples, and to complete questionnaires on social habits and health. Blood samples were analyzed for iron, ferritin and TIBC in serum in addition to RBC, Hb and Cd in whole blood. Urine samples were analyzed for Cd, alpha1-MG, and beta2-MG; the measures were corrected for creatinine and were expressed as e.