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Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine disrupting environmental chemical. Urinary concentrations of BPA were measured in samples collected nationwide from Chinese young adults. The geometric mean urinary concentration of BPA in Chinese young adults was 2.23 ng/mL. The estimated daily exposure dose for BPA was 64.8 ng/kg bw/day. Contributions of various BPA sources to exposure in Chinese young adults were estimated. Dietary intake was the primary exposure pathway. The contribution of dietary intake, indoor dust, paper products and personal care products to BPA intake was 72.5 %, 0.74 %, 0.98 %, 0.22 % of the total exposure dose, respectively. This is the first study on the occurrence of BPA in young adults from most provinces and autonomous regions of China. The results can be used to establish a database for BPA exposure assessment for Chinese general population.

Bioluminescent Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast- based bioreporters were used to monitor bisphenol A and other estrogenic chemicals in thermal paper samples collected mainly from Finland on two occasions in 2010/2011, and 2013. The bisphenol A-targeted (BPA-R) and the human oestrogen receptor (hERα) bioreporters were applied to ana- lyse both non-treated and extracted paper samples. Bisphenol A was readily bioavailable to the yeast bioreporters on the non-treated paper samples without any pre-treatment. Detect- ed concentrations ranged from a detection limit of 9-142 μg/g to over 20 mg/g of bisphenol A equivalents in the thermal papers. Low bisphenol A likeactivities were detected in many samples, and were considered to be caused by residual bisphenol A or other types of bisphenols, such as bisphenol S. Most of the thermal paper samples were toxic to the yeast bioreporters. The toxicity did not, however, depend on the bisphenol A concentration of the samples. The yeast bioreporters were demonstrated to be a robust and cost- efficient method to monitor thermal paper samples for their bisphenol A content and estrogenicity. Thermal paper was considered as a potential BPA source for both human expo- sure and environmental emission.

Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) smolts from the Chehalis River may encounter large discharges (>1.7x108 L/d) of pulp mill effluent during their downstream migration through Grays Harbor, Washington. Smolt survival is believed to be reduced by the impaired water quality resulting from effluent releases (Seiler 1989), and it is possible that the orientation behavior of young salmon could be disrupted by exposure to sublethal concentrations of these effluents (Sutterlin 1974).

The toxicity of an untreated bleached kraft pulp mill effluent was evaluated histopathologically, using rainbow trout. Gills, liver, kidney, spleen, digestive tract, and skin were examined in a 96-hr LC50 acute test. Fish exposed to lethal concentrations of effluent had an extensive fusion of gill lamellae. This lesion was also present in fish that survived the 96-hr LC50 acute test but to a lesser extent. Trout exposed for 20, 40, and 60 days to sublethal effluent concentrations were also examined. No lesions that could be attributed specifically to the effluent were observed, but exposed fish had a higher incidence of fin necrosis and damaged gills than the unexposed fish after 40 and 60 days. Loss of resistance to bacterial pathogens may be a significant stress-related effect of this effluent in fish exposed for long periods to low concentrations.