Search

Objective The objective was to grasp the recent body burden levels of polychlorinated dibenzo- p -dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) and to investigate their determinants among general inhabitants in Japan. Methods This study was performed on 1374 participants aged 15–73 years, who were not occupational exposure to PCDDs/PCDFs and DL-PCBs, living widely in 75 different residential areas of 25 prefectures in Japan. Seven PCDDs, ten PCDFs, twelve DL-PCBs, which are assigned a toxicity equivalent factor, and biochemical factors were determined in fasting blood. A questionnaire survey on life-style was also performed. Results The median of total toxicity equivalent (TEQ) was 20 pg TEQ/g lipid. The TEQs of PCDDs/PCDFs, DL-PCBs and total TEQ increased with age. The intake frequency of fish-and-shellfish was positively associated with the TEQ of DL-PCBs in both sexes. Current smoking was negatively related to the TEQ of DL-PCBs in male subjects but not in female subjects. Feeding status was significantly related to the TEQs of PCDDs/PCDFs, DL-PCBs and total TEQ, being lowest in breast feeding and highest in never and bottle feeding. According to the results of subgroup analysis, parity was not associated with the TEQs. Conclusions The fish-and-shellfish consumption may contribute to the accumulation of DL-PCBs, and smoking may induce some biological action for the elimination of DL-PCBs from the human body. Breast feeding is considered to be one of the major excretory pathways of PCDDs/PCDFs and DL-PCBs in women, while parity may not largely contribute to the elimination of these pollutants.

Cadmium chloride can induce DNA fragmentation, a biochemical characteristics of apoptosis in renal epithelial LLC-PK1 cells. Studies of cadmium cytotoxicity demonstrated that cadmium activates c-myc transcription. In this study, we investigated whether c-myc is a necessary component of cadmium-induced apoptosis. By kinetic analysis, transient activation of c-myc transcript by cadmium occurred before DNA fragmentation was induced by the metal, indicating an apparent correlation between induction of c-myc mRNA and promotion of apoptosis. However, even when using actinomycin D to block transcriptional activation of c-myc, or antisense oligodeoxynucleotide complementary to c-myc to block translation of c-myc, cadmium could still induce apoptosis. Thus, our data show that cadmium elicits apoptosis by a mechanism other than regulation of c-myc expression: transcriptional activation of c-myc during apoptosis is not always involved in the cell-death events.

Serum concentrations of 11 elements (Na, Mg, P, S, K, Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn, Sr and Se) in the adult populations of the Gidra in lowland Papua New Guinea were measured. The marked characteristic of the element profile in the Gidra was higher Cu and slightly lower Zn concentrations than those in developed countries. Zinc nutriture of the Gidra was judged to be marginally deficient, presumably because of their high intake of crude fiber and Fe, which are known to inhibit Zn absorption, and the decreased Zn absorption might have increased Cu absorption. Inter‐village variation in serum element concentrations was large for Fe and Sr. The difference in the serum Fe levels is partly explained by the difference in the prevalence of malarial infection in addition to the different intake levels. For other elements (Na, Mg, P, S, K, Ca and Se), the difference among the villages was small, and those levels in the Gidra fell in the range reported in developed countries.

Forthcoming global environmental changes threaten to endanger human survival through direct and indirect influences. In this paper, the contemporary world food supply situation and resultant nutritional status was first reviewed on by country and region. When compared with the nutritional energy requirement, countries with an inadequate food supply were concentrated in the developing world, in particular in some parts of Africa. The life expectancy at birth is clearly shorter in such countries, and peoples of African countries with an inadequate food supply have shorter life expectancies than other countries with a similar inadequacy.Global warming is likely to decrease food production in some parts of the world. According to the present estimation using various methods, a future crisis of food production may occur in African countries which are at present most vulnerable to food shortages, as well as in countries which are presently food exporters. Thus, a future crisis of human health conditions caused by the imbalance of food production and trade may be least avoidable in the region of present predicament.

A woman ingested a dose of sublimate (approximately 0.9 g) in an attempted suicide. She survived and recovered in response to a combination of therapies including chelate (BAL) therapy, plasma exchange, haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. Serum inorganic mercury concentration, urinary inorganic mercury excretion and hair inorganic and organic mercury and selenium concentrations, along the length from the scalp to the distal part, were measured. Longitudinal analysis of hair, revealed a peak in inorganic mercury corresponding to the time of mercury ingestion. Organic mercury and selenium in the hair had different patterns of longitudinal variation from that of inorganic mercury. The biological half-life (23.5 d) of serum inorganic mercury levels was in good agreement with values previously reported in the literature.

Multielement analysis was performed on human milk collected on 5-9-d postpartum from 51 Japanese females using inductively coupled plasma (ICP) mass spectrometry (MS), ICP atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and fluorometry. Thirty-one elements were detected by these analytical methods in milk. Twelve elements (Na, Mg, P, S, K, Ca, Cu, Zn, Se, Sr, Rb, and Mo) were detected in all of the samples. Al, Cs, and Ba were the elements detected by ICP-MS in more than half of the samples. Multiple regression analysis extracted biological attributes of mother and infant, such as maternal stature, maternal wt, or infant's birth wt, as statistically significant factors contributing to the variation in elemental concentration in milk. However, the rates of contribution were small in all cases. It was concluded that the biological attributes of mother and infant examined in this study were not the major factors that contribute to elemental variation in human milk.

Selenium (Se) concentrations in the food of the Gidra‐speaking people of Papua New Guinea were measured by fluorometry. Animal foods contained Se in larger concentrations than plant foods. Animal foods of aquatic origin contained more Se than those of terrestrial origin. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed an association between Se and the animal's mercury content. Se concentrations in rice and wheat flour, which were imported from outside of the Gidra land, were more than one order higher than those in locally grown plant foods. The dietary Se intakes of the Gidra in four villages with diverse ecological conditions were calculated based on food consumption survey data. They varied from one village to another: the highest Se intake was observed in the coastal village (132.9 μg/adult male/day), which had greatest fish and purchased food consumption. It was followed by the riverine (97.8) and northern (51.0) villages, and the lowest intake was in the inland village (49.0), where no aquatic animal...

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of the animal and plant food of the Gidra, who inhabit lowland Papua New Guinea and subsist mainly on hunting, gathering and horticulture, were measured to characterize the nutritional input of carbon and nitrogen of the Gidra. All the staple plant foods of the Gidra, such as sago and tuberous crops, were classified as C3 plants from their 13C/12C ratios (δ13C). The δ13C of the terrestrial mammals varied to a considerable extent (—11 to —26.5 per mil); the highest value was observed for a species of wallaby inhabiting savanna grassland while two other species of wallabies inhabiting woodland were —25.3 and —22.8 per mil. The δ13C of the aquatic animals was distinctive between marine (—17.0 to —7.1 per mil) and freshwater (—34.6 to —24.0 per mil) groups. The δ15N of the fishes and reptiles were generally higher than terrestrial animals. Major foods of the Gidra were isotopically divided into 5 groups: C3 plant, C3 plant feeder, C4 plant feeder, marine animal and fr...

Concentrations of 11 elements (Na, Mg, Al, P, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, and Sr) were measured in 505 hair samples collected in 1981 from four (northern, inland, riverine, and coastal) villages of the Gidra who inhabit the lowland of Papua New Guinea. To compare the dietary element intakes with the hair element concentrations, the elimination of elements from hair by washing was first examined. Elimination rates by washing markedly differed from element to element, and a linear relationship between dietary element intakes and hair element concentrations was found in the case of non‐washed hair, but not in the case of washed hair. The comparability of hair element concentrations with dietary element intakes was different according to the villages, and for elements such as Na, Mg, Ca, Cu, and Sr, the difference was partly explained by the element levels in the water utilized in each village.

The effects of sublethal doses of selenite, selenate, selenocystine (Se-Cys) and selenomethionine (Se-Met) as well as of tellurite on body temperature and feeding behavior were examined in male ICR mice. Ten or 30 mol kg of chemicals were injected subcutaneously and body temperature was measured up to 4h. In a separate experiment, the gastric content was weighed 4 h after injection. All chemicals except Se-Met induced both hypothermia and hyperphagia, suggesting that: (a) these two effects are related to each other; (b) among the chemicals tested, Se-Cys appears to be the most potent hypothermia inducer; (c) Se-Met is unique in that it has neither effect.

Plasma levels of selenium (Se) were determined consecutively during a menstrual cycle of six women in three phases (i.e., menses, follicular, and luteal). To detect possible differences in relation to normal pregnancy, plasma levels of Se were also determined in paired samples of maternal and umbilical cord blood from 12 pregnant women. No periodic changes in the plasma Se levels were observed during the menstrual cycle. The intraindividual variation, estimated by coefficients of variation, ranged from 1.9% to 9.9% among the menstrual phases of the subjects. The plasma Se level during pregnancy did not differ significantly from those of nonpregnant women, and those in the second trimester and at delivery were at similar levels (1.58+/-.14 and 1.48+/-.20 mmol/L, respectively). Compared to the levels of maternal Se at delivery, the fetal cord plasma at birth had a significant lower Se level (1.23+/-.34 mmol/L, p.05).

The levels and its interindividual and intraindividual variations of selenium (Se) and mercury (Hg) in erythrocytes and plasma were investigated in seven healthy young men during a period of 10 wk, with emphasis on the relationship to the dietary intake of several defined food items. The intraindividual variation, estimated by coefficients of variation (CVs), was 9.9% for plasma Se (PSe), 9.5% for erythrocyte Se (ESe), 42.4% for PHg, and 11.7% for EHg on the average. Significant correlations were found for mean ESe levels in each subject and his fish-eating frequency during this study (r=0.752, p

The ability of cadmium-bound metallothionein(Cd-MT) to induce apoptosis was investigated in vivo and in vitro. Administration of purified Cd-MT (0.15 mg MT bound Cd per kg body weight) to the rat induces DNA fragmentation, a biochemical characteristic of apoptosis in the kidney at 16 h, which was detectable by ethidium bromide staining on an agarose gel. It was still detected 24 h after administration. Induction of apoptosis by Cd-MT was specific to kidney; it was not observed in cerebrum, cerebellum, heart, lung, liver, testis, dorsolateral prostate, and ventral prostate. In contrast, addition of Cd-MT (0.01-100 microM) to the cultured porcine kidney LLC-PK1 cells failed to induce apoptosis under the condition where cadmium chloride (10 microM) did. There was no additivity of induction of apoptosis by CdCl2 (10 microM) in the presence of Cd-MT (0.01-100 microM). To examine the effect of intracellular MT on cadmium-induced apoptosis in cultured cells, new cell lines were established, which constitutively produce MT, being termed as Cd(r)-LLC-PK1 cells since Cd-MT exogenously added had much less permeability to the cultured cells. Followed by exposure of wild-type LLC-PK1 cells to 50 microM CdCl2 for 24 h, the surviving cells(Cd(r)-LLC-PK1 cells) induce MT at the level of 1.9 microg/2 x 10(6) cells. In Cd(r)-LLC-PK1 cells, 10 microM CdCl2 failed to induce apoptosis, but 60 microM CdCl2 could exert the apoptotic response, indicating that intracellular MT which was induced by CdCl2 did not facilitate CdCl2-elicited apoptosis. Furthermore, chromatin in rat kidneys was condensed by Cd-MT, but not that in LLC-PK1 cells. Thus, Cd-MT induces apoptosis in rat kidneys, but not in the cultured renal cells, suggesting that the ionic form of cadmium was required for programmed cell death.

The relationships among element concentrations (Na, Mg, Al, P, K, Ca, Cr, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Sr, total Hg, organic Hg, inorganic Hg, Pb) and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios ( 13 C 12 C and 15 N 14 N ) in animals consumed by the people called Gidra, who inhabit the lowland of Papua New Guinea, were examined. Animals analyzed included mammal, bird, fish, shellfish, reptile, crustacean, and insect. Highly significantly positive correlations were observed between total Hg concentrations and 15 N 14 N (r = 0.796), between organic Hg concentrations and 15 N 14 N (r = 0.781), and between inorganic Hg concentrations and 15 N 14 N (r = 0.739). This was interpreted to indicate that Hg was an element which accumulates in animals along the food chain. Based on the regression function of Hg on δ15N, the bioconcentration factor for total, organic, and inorganic Hg was estimated to be 5.

Food consumption and nutrient intake of the Gidra in lowland Papua, who number 1,850 and inhabit 13 villages, were analyzed by compilation of five two‐week (or twelve‐day) records, in a single village in 1971 and in four different villages (including the above village) in 1981. The nutrient intake of the Gidra varied both over time and among the villages. Difference in food consumption patterns included different proportions of plant staples such as sago flour, garden crops and purchased cereals. The animal protein sources, mainly game and fish, also markedly varied among the villages. These differences in food consumption were related to environmental conditions such as the fauna and flora in the environment of each village and to the degree of modernization as reflected in ability to purchase foods not locally grown. The causal relationship between ecological (environmental and cultural) conditions and food and nutrition is discussed, and a schematic model for this relationship is presented.

Isolated-housing conditions (a single mouse in cage) have been reported to induce various changes in physiological and behavioral characters of mice comparing with collective-housing conditions. However, the effect of age and sex has not been studied in detail. In this report, the young (8 or 11 weeks old) and the mature (29 weeks old for male and 32 weeks for female) of both sexes were comparatively studied on the response to isolation. The duration of isolation was 12-13 weeks. Significant differences were seen in body weight, weights of fur and interscapular adipose tissue, and weight of adrenals in male, and the difference in weight of adrenals was more outstanding in the young than in the mature. In female, only weight of ovaries differed significantly between the isolation and the collective groups, and the difference prevailed in the young than in the mature. The heavy body weight with fat deposition and small adrenals in the isolated male is not consistent with the results on the isolated male rat (Hatch et al. 1965). Small ovary in the isolated female is a similar finding to reports on mice (Weltman et al. 1962) and on rats (Hatch et al. 1965).

The Gidra population in lowland Papua New Guinea, having lived as a no‐salt culture, is now subjected to modernization. In 1981, salt consumption, body fatness and blood pressures were measured for people in four ecologically different villages. Daily salt consumption of individuals was estimated from the sodium level per unit weight of creatinine in the morning urine and the daily urinary excretion of creatinine (estimation from fat free mass). The estimated value significantly correlated (r=0.53) with actually measured value in 30 selected subjects. Estimated sodium consumption and the urinary sodium potassium ratio were generally lower in remote villages from the town, and the salt consumption levels were less than 5 g/day/person in all the villages. Body fatness, calculated from the two skinfold values, was variable with sex, age group and village, the most being in the females in a coastal village which was adjacent to the town. The age‐related increment of blood pressures was significant only in fem...

We studied characteristics of past smokers according to the duration of cessation of smoking based on data from a population-based survey. Lifestyle, prevalences of various symptoms and diseases and other factors were compared among current smokers (8507 males and 2012 females), past smokers (4423 males and 684 females) and non-smokers (2431 males and 12,859 females) aged 40 years and over. Compared to current smokers, past smokers consumed more bread, milk, vegetables, fruit and black tea, and less rice, pickles, instant noodles, coffee and alcohol, had lower prevalences of cough, sputum and anorexia, participated more in cancer screening tests, weighed more, included more professional and administrative workers and had more non-smoking spouses. These characteristics resembled those of non-smokers. But past smokers had high prevalences of several cardiovascular and respiratory diseases compared to current smokers. Daily intake of coffee was inversely associated and daily intakes of fruit and milk were positively associated with the duration of abstinence from smoking after adjusting for other factors in both sexes. These results suggest that lifestyle of past smokers may contribute to risk reduction for several diseases.

Measurements were made on mercury and selenium concentrations in foodstuffs, mainly in fish, obtained on the Takarajima Island of the Tokara Islands and the surrounding sea. The selenium consumption was evaluated in comparison with mercurial consumption.

For comparing the pattern of interrelationship of seven anthropometric measurements and eight body build indices in the different phase of growth, principal component analysis was applied to each of ten cohorts of three-year age range consisting of 7-18 years old school children of Nase City. The loading patterns of component I indicating body size started to change at the time corresponding to adolescent growth spurt. Rohrer index, Livi index, ponderal index and relative weight were highly significantly correlated in most cohorts with component II representing body build, and are considered to be appropriate as body build indices. Those indices, however, are much less suitable in a quantitative sense for body build indices in girls at puberty who correspond to junior high school girls. W/H and Quetelet index were involved bilaterally with body size and body build and are not specified either of them. The skinfold thickness was closely associated with component III which is orthogonal to componentII must be taken into consideration in evaluating body fatness of children.

Urine of a young healthy man was added with varying amounts of mercuric chloride, incubated for 10 to 375 min, and separated into supernatant solution and precipitate by centrifugation at 105,000 X g for 60 min. Percentage of mercury amount in precipitate increased with the increase of mercury amount added. But this adsorption of mercury to urinary cells or particles could not completely account for the amount of mercury in human urine reported (Suzuki and Shishido 1975). The hypothesis that desquamation of tubular cells is a route of urinary mercury excretion in man is still sustained.

In 78 food samples collected in the Papuan lowland, concentrations of major nutrients and trace elements (Na, Mg, A1, P, K, Ca, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sr, Cd, Hg, and Pb) were measured. Principal components analysis of local foods distinguished animal foods from plant foods: factor 1 had large positive loadings on protein, Na, P, Zn, and Hg contents and negative on carbohydrate content, and factor 2, positively on Mg, Ca, Mn, and Sr contents. Elemental concentrations differed among four categories of animal foods: mammals, birds, reptiles, and fishes. The highest levels of Fe, Cu, and Zn were found in mammals; the concentrations decreased in birds, reptiles, and fishes, in that order. In contrast, Ca and Sr were abundant in fishes but not in mammals.

The age at menarche of both Japanese and Bolivians living in a colony of Japanese immigrants in eastern Bolivia was examined. Maximum likelihood estimation gave mean menarcheal ages of 13.15 +or- 1.08 for the Japanese girls and 13.08 +or- 0.89 for Bolivian girls. The girls are further classified according to the fathers occupations (Japanese--Agriculturist 1 Agriculturist 2; Bolivian--Self-employed employed unknown) and the age at menarche of each group was also estimated. For Japanese girls the difference in the menarcheal age between Agriculturist 1 (13.28) and Agriculturist 2 (13.19) was negligible. However Nonagriculturist showed remarkably younger age at menarche (11.70). For Bolivian girls there was a clear difference in the menarcheal age between those self-employed (12.72) and those employed (13.99). (authors)

Mineral (Na, K, Ca, Mg and Zn) contents in the hair from two populations, Oriomo Papuans and Akita in Japan, which have different salt intake, were investigated. Determination of minerals was conducted on untreated hair samples and hair samples washed with distilled water or ten percent acetic acid solution. The sodium content of the hair of persons living in Akita whose salt intake was in excess of 20 g/day was significantly greater than that of the hair of Papuans whose salt intake was estimated to be about 200 mg/day. The potassium level in untreated Papuan hair was significantly greater than that of the hair of people in Akita; but in washed hair the opposite was found. The sodium/potassium ratio of hair from Akita was significantly greater than that of Papuan hair in all treatments. Except when acid washing was used, no differences were observed in calcium contents. Magnesium levels did not differ whatever treatment had been applied. The zinc content of Papuan hair was significantly less than that of...

The extent of contribution of body weight, height and age to the attainment at menarche was evaluated in a sample of 275 Japanese girls. The means of age, height and weight at menarche were 12.5 SD 0.89 years, 151.1 SD 5.73cm and 42.3 SD 5.75kg, respectively. According to the bivariate correlation analysis between age and height, and age and weight at menarche, height increased (r=0.406, slope=2.603) while weight did not increase significantly with an increase in menarcheal age (r=0.104). The increase of height does not support the invariance of mean height proposed by MATSUBAYASHI (1932), and the random distribution of weight does not support the particular value of weight on the menarcheal sttainment (FRISCH and REVELLE, 1971). However, our finding does not deny the role of weight on menarche, and the weight correlated with the menarcheal status (not attained, 0, versus attained, 1) at each chronological age. An existence of a threshold body size was suggested as one of possibilities to describe the observed relationship.

The effect of colonization on the infestation by intestinal parasites was examined in the subtropical lowlands of Bolivia. High frequency of parasite carriers indicates the close parasite-human relationship in this area. But the variation in the extent of infestation among colonies shows the modification of this relationship by the development of cultivation and/or adjustment for living facilities which were influenced by differential colonizing processes in terms of the time elapsing since initial settlement, the type of colonization and the origin of the colonists.

Mercury levels in the hair segment close to the scalp were well correlated with fish‐eating habits for residents on a small island in the south of Japanese mainlands. Mercury levels changed in segmented hair samples along with the distance from the scalp. The time of sprouting of hair segment in which the mercury level showed the peak coincided well with the peak of catch of fish on the island.

Mercury in cigarettes of domestic and foreign products was measured by Magon's method, and the sample of a domestic brand was burned by a smoking machine and the smoke was collected for the measurement of mercury. In tobacco leaf and paper, only inorganic mercury was found in both domestic and foreign products. Its amount in tobacco leaf and paper of a piece of cigarette was about 60 ng in domestic products and about 30 ng in foreign products. By burning, the unit length of a cigarette released about 5-7 ng of mercury into smoke.

Thirteen anthropometric and physiological measurements of 84 male diving-fishers in Ishigaki City, Okinawa Prefecture were conducted. The first comparison was between the present data and the corresponding data of six other groups of Japanese muscular workers, and the second focused upon the differences within the Ishigaki diving-fishers in relation to their work history. The Ishigaki diving-fishers were characterized by larger biceps circumference, while their grip strength was inferior. For the second analysis, the Ishigaki diving-fishers were grouped into three: the first (group B) has exclusively carried out breath-hold diving, the second (BD), breath-hold diving and then mask-and-hose diving, and the third (BH) breath-hold diving followed by hand-line fishing. Significant inter-group differences existed only among the older fishers aged 50 to 59 in the four variables analyzed. Comparing with group BH, group B was higher in weight/height ratio, larger in biceps circumference, stronger in grip strength, and lower in heart rate. These differences are likely to have attributed to cumulative effects of their work.

Injection (s.c.) of Na2SeO3 (SS, 20-30 mumol/kg) into male mice initiated eating, which began about 20 min after injection and continued for about 3 h. This initiation effect was observed for mice of different ages and at different times of the day. Other findings of this study were: (1) early morning injection (30 mumol/kg) caused increased food intake, as examined by gastric content 3 h after injection, compared to daytime injection; and (2) SS-induced transient hyperphagia was observed at ambient temperatures of 10 and 22 degrees C, but not at 37 degrees C. This paper discusses these results in relation to SS-induced hypothermia.

Pregnant mice were injected with Na275SeO3 and/or CH3203HgCl, or (CH3203Hg)275Se i.v. on Day 16 of gestation. Modificatory effects of pretreatment of GSH, or simultaneous injection of methylmercury as (CH3 203Hg)2 75Se form on distribution and placental transfer of selenium were observed.

Maximum grip strength and body composition were measured in 136 Gidra-speaking adults in Papua New Guinea. The subjects inhabited two ecologically contrasting villages, one observing traditional ways of living and one influenced by modernization. Grip strength correlates with fat-free mass and body weight in all sex/village groups. Grip strength is greater in modernized villagers than in traditional villagers, but grip strength per unit body weight is greater in traditional villagers because of their lean body composition. Regression analysis reveals that an increase of 1 kg grip strength is gained by an increase of 1.34kg and 1.67kg body weight for males and females, respectively, for traditional villagers. The corresponding values for modernized villagers are higher (1.81kg and 4.41kg), although when the individuals with body mass index greater than 24 are excluded the values become close to those for traditional villagers. On the basis of comparison with Japanese standards, grip strength per body weight of the modernized villagers, at least in males, is judged to represent the pattern in industrialized populations.

Intake of 17 elements (Na, Mg, Al, P, K, Ca, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn Sr, Cd, Hg and Pb) was estimated in four villages of the Gidra in lowland Papua New Guinea. Among these elements, inter‐village variation of intake was relatively large for Na, Al, V, Fe, Ni, Cd, Hg and Pb. The variation was attributed to the different concentrations in foods and drinking water, and the differences in food consumption by different villages. Compared to the intake levels reported in Japan, the USA and European countries, Na, Ca, Ni, Cd and Pb intake in the Gidra was low. Low Na intake was principally caused by low consumption of salt. Low Na and Ca intakes were attributed to the low levels of consumption of animal foods. On the other hand, Mg, Al, K, Mn, Fe and Sr intake levels in the Gidra were high. In particular, extremely high Fe intake was attributed to region‐specific foods such as sago, wild seeds and shellfish.

Hair samples from the Oriomo Papuans, being sago‐ and meat‐eaters, were analysed for zinc, copper, and inorganic and organic mercury concentrations. Values obtained were compared between the sexes, and with those for Japanese islanders (rice‐ and fish‐eaters) on Kuchinoshima in the south of Japanese mainlands. Hair zinc values of female Papuans were significantly lower than those of male Papuans and adult male and female Japanese islanders, but no difference was found in hair copper values. Hair organic mercury values were markedly higher in Japanese islanders than in Papuans. The low levels of hair zinc nutriture in female Papuans was discussed in relation to the food consumption and the high incidence of stillbirth.

For revealing the character of various indices of body build in children, variable sets of seven anthropometric measurements and eight indices for 474 boys and girls 7-18 years in age inhabiting Nase City were investigated with principal components analysis. With a negligible difference by sex, three components accounting for over 90% of total variance were extracted, which was interpreted to indicate respectively body size, body build and skinfold thickness. Of these the first component highly correlated with age, while the other two were age-independent. Weight/height ratio and Quetelet index which highly correlated with the first component are not appropriate as body build indices, while other indices such as Rohrer index, Livi index, ponderal index and relative weight highly correlated with the second component. It may be meaningful in evaluating body fatness that the third component associated with only skinfold thicknesses is orthogonal to the second component. The age-independency of the second and third components shall be evaluated for assessment of individuals within a population of a wide age range.

Dietary records (a three‐day period in July and August, 1975) of 34 households of Japanese immigrants in the lowland of Bolivia were analyzed for the amounts and types of food consumed. The objective of the study was to determine the food habits of immigrants during the various stages of their resettlement and socio‐economic development. The results were as follows: The number of foodstuffs exceeded 100, among which rice was staple through all the households. Food‐stuffs or foodstuff‐groups of high communality in consumption next to rice were vegetables, oils wheat, eggs and sugar. Use of wild river fish and cultivation of vegetables, novel in Bolivia but familiar in Japan, were widely recognized. Differences due to the diversified subsistence activities were mainly observed in consumption of animal food such as beef, chicken and fish. Non‐agriculturists more frequently consumed wheat, non‐alcoholic beverages, and jam and honey, and less frequently rice, vegetables, eggs and vinegar. Except for soybean pr...

To check the usefulness of the hair mercury value for evaluation of intake of mercury, total mercury in red cells and organic mercury in hair were measured and compared on islanders whose fish consumption varied to a considerable extent. On both the male and female, correlations of these two mercury levels were significant. The slopes of regression lines did not differ between the male and the female, but the level of hair organic mercury was higher in the male than in the female. Age-differences were observed in the red cell-to-hair relationship of mercury, i.e. the age-group aged 50 and over had much milder slopes than the group aged 20-49 in both the male and the female. The importance of age-matching was mentioned.

Seventy‐eight foods (70 locally exploited and 8 purchased) consumed by the Gidra in lowland Papua were sampled and their nutrient compositions and metal concentrations were determined. Because local food samples were collected in the state in which they were normally eaten by the villagers, the water content of several of our samples, especially of sago flour, was much greater than that in the literature. The variation of protein and energy content in nine samples of banana (genus Musa) was greater than that in six samples of tuberous crops belonging to four different genera. The most important purchased plant foods were wheat flour and rice, which have gradually replaced the local plant staples, mainly sago flour. The ratio of protein per energy unit of wheat flour is twice as high as that of tubers and more than 15 times as high as that of sago flour.

New-born from the mother mouse or rat, which had been injected with benzene during gestation period, has been reported to have a higher susceptibility to benzene or aminopterin than that from a non-treated mother.The present authors' objective is to study whether or not the varied time interval between the day of conception and injection of benzene into mice changes the susceptibility to benzene.Female mice at 6, 9 and 12 days after conception were injected with a dosage of 4ml/kg of benzene, and a control group was not injected.The body weight of the mother mouse just before delivery, percentages of new-born mice vitality at time of birth and after, patterns of occuring death within a week after the birth differed in the 6th day injection group from other groups.The new-born mice at 10 weeks of age were injected 5 times with a dosage of 0.1ml/kg. Consequently, there were marked differences in the leucocyte count, hemoglobin content, body weight and weights of the thymus and the spleen between 9th, 12th day injection groups and the control group.

The chemical form of mercury in fish has been controversial. Whereas the mercury in the muscle of fish has been reported to be mostly methylmercury by the workers in Sweden (Westoo 1966; Westoo and Rydalv 1969; Westoo and Rydalv 1971), the United States (Smith et al. 1971), and Canada (Zitko et al. 1971; Uteh et al. 1972), the methylmercury percentage of total mercury content has been considerably lower in the reports from Japan (Ueda et al. 1971), and Canada (Bache et al. 1971). The difference of analytical procedures, the kind of fish, and the chemical form of mercury in the environment have to be implicated. A comparative analysis for methylmercury and total mercury on the same fish sample by a Swedish and a Japanese laboratory, did not give a satisfactory solution, e.g., the methylmercury percentage was of the same order in some samples, but different in other samples (Berglund et al. 1971). Our intention in this report is to check the percentage of inorganic mercury in fish using the selective measurement of inorganic mercury by cold atomic absorption photometry (Magos and Cernik 1969).

Nine paired placenta, maternal blood and umbilical cord blood specimens were collected from women at delivery in Tokyo in 1970. The specimens were analyzed by mercury vapor photometry. Results indicate that the mercury content in the red cells of the umbilical cord blood tended to become higher than that in the maternal red cells with an increase of mercury level in the maternal blood. Though the difference was very small, the mercury content of plasma from umbilical cord blood was significantly lower than that from maternal blood. The mercury content in the placenta was the highest value among the paired specimens. This suggested that mercury accumulated in this organ. The distribution of mercury between cells and plasma was different when maternal and umbilical cord blood were compared. The ratio of mercury content in the red cell to that in the plasma was smaller in the maternal blood than in the umbilical cord blood.

The plasma level of bromine was measured by a proton-induced X-ray emission spectroscopy. Since bromine is the most difficult halogen to be determined and appears only in trace quantities, powerful techniques are required. The excellent reproducibility was obtained on 19 measurements on a sample of a single individual; the coefficient of variation was 6.3%. The average and standard deviation of plasma bromine levels on 47 young women were 0.50 and 0.10 mg/100 ml, respectively. Results by other methods in the literature were briefly reviewed.

Elevated urinary methylmercury excretion was observed in a patient poisoned with mercury vapor. When he was treated with n-penicillamine, the urinary methylmercury excretion increased significantly in both cases of twice-repeated 4-day peroral administration, while the urinary total mercury excretion increased significantly only in the first series of administration.

Mercury distribution in pregnant mice, subcutaneously injected with 1.5 or 15.0 mumol/kg of methylmercury chloride (MeHg) and 0, 1.5 or 15.0 mumol/kg of sodium selenite, was investigated. Selenite increased the retention of mercury in maternal brain in every combination of doses. Selenite also increased mercury concentrations in maternal blood except one combination (MeHg 1.5; selenite 1.5 mumol/kg), and the increased mercury was partitioned to red blood cells. The increased mercury retention by selenite was also found in fetal brain.