Exposure assessment of metal intakes from drinking water relative to those from total diet in Japan.

Daily intakes of 17 metals (boron, aluminium, chromium, manganese, nickel, copper, zinc, arsenic, selenium, molybdenum, cadmium, antimony, lead, uranium, magnesium, calcium, and iron) via drinking water and total diet were investigated in six cities in Japan. The daily metal intakes were estimated and compared with tolerable daily intake (TDI) values proposed by the WHO or Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives for toxic metals and with recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) or adequate intake (AI) values proposed for essential metals by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Among the 13 toxic metals, mean dietary intakes of 10 (except arsenic, selenium, and molybdenum) were less than 50% of TDI, suggesting that for these 10 metals the allocation of intake to drinking water in establishing guidelines or standards could possibly be increased from the normal allocation of 10-20% of TDI.

Effects of chlorine on organophosphorus pesticides adsorbed on activated carbon: desorption and oxon formation.

We investigated effects of chlorination on four organophosphorus pesticides (diazinon, isoxathion, malathion, and tolclofos-methyl) adsorbed on powdered activated carbon (PAC). Following adsorption of each pesticide on 10mg/L of PAC in water, chlorine was added. After 30min of chlorination, the corresponding oxons were detected in the water, but the parent compounds were not detected.

Arsenic intake via water and food by a population living in an arsenic-affected area of Bangladesh.

More and more people in Bangladesh have recently become aware of the risk of drinking arsenic-contaminated groundwater, and have been trying to obtain drinking water from less arsenic-contaminated sources. In this study, arsenic intakes of 18 families living in one block of a rural village in an arsenic-affected district of Bangladesh were evaluated to investigate their actual arsenic intake via food, including from cooking water, and to estimate the contribution of each food category and of drinking water to the total arsenic intake. Water consumption rates were estimated by the self-reporting method.

Effects of chlorine on the decrease of estrogenic chemicals.

The effects of chlorination on the elimination of three estrogenic chemicals such as 17beta-estradiol, nonylphenol and bis-phenol A were investigated using yeast two-hybrid assay (YTA), estrogen receptor (ER) competition assay (ER-CA), and high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS). The results of YTA, ER-CA and the analysis of LC/MS indicated that the estrogenic activity of the above-mentioned three endocrine disruptors were significantly reduced as a result of chlorination. The decrease in estrogenic activity paralleled a decrease in estrogenic chemicals under the influence of free chlorine.

Rapid and economical indicator for evaluating arsenic removal with minimum aluminum residual during coagulation process.

Detection of various types of contaminants in water treatment plant by sophisticated analytical methods such as inductively coupled plasma/mass spectrometry and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry requires hours to days to provide the results. Because naturally occurring ultraviolet (UV) active compounds are commonly present in almost all source waters and can be rapidly monitored by UV absorbance at 260 nm (E260), the extent of correlation between the removal efficiency of E260 and the removal efficiency of As(V) with minimum soluble residual Al by coagulation process was investigated. Percentage removals for E260 were well correlated to those of As(V).

Comparing polyaluminum chloride and ferric chloride for antimony removal.

Antimony has been one of the contaminants required to be regulated, however, only limited information has been collected to date regarding antimony removal by polyaluminium chloride (PACl) and ferric chloride (FC). Accordingly, the possible use of coagulation by PACl or FC for antimony removal was investigated. Jar tests were used to determine the effects of solution pH, coagulant dosage, and pre-chlorination on the removal of various antimony species.

Removal of organic pollutants and metabolic adaptation of microorganisms by micro-aeration.

Aerobic systems are high rate processes for wastewater treatment, but they consume much power for aeration. Several low-cost anaerobic systems have been developed for mid- and low-income countries. The removal efficiencies of nutrients, particulate matter, and pathogens are not satisfactory for the anaerobic systems.

Removal efficiency and homologue patterns of dioxins in drinking water treatment.

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (Co-PCBs) analyses in raw and treated water throughout Japan were implemented to identify the concentration and homologue patterns of dioxins before and after the water treatment process. In 40 surface water and 5 ground water treatment plants, the removal efficiency of dioxins and the influence of extent chlorination on dioxins increase in drinking water were also studied. Raw water and treated water were sampled twice, summer and winter.

Performance of nanofiltration for arsenic removal.

Performance of rapid sand filtration inter-chlorination system was compared with nanofiltration (NF) to reduce the arsenic health risk of drinking water. It was found that rapid sand filtration with inter-chlorination is not effective in removing arsenic. If total arsenic concentration in raw water is below 50 microg/L regardless of the turbidity of raw water, arsenic can be removed below WHO guideline value of 10 microg/L by conventional coagulation (polyaluminum chloride dosage is about 1.

Fish test for endocrine-disruption and estimation of water quality of Japanese rivers.

The LC50 values (72 h) of 17beta-estradiol (E2), p-nonylphenol (NP) and bis-phenol-A (BPA) to adult male and female medaka were 3.5 and 3.5, 0.