No abstract

Organic compounds and inorganic elements were determined in leachates from 11 landfill sites in Japan. With regard to the inorganic elements, the concentration of boron was found to be fairly high. More than 100 organic compounds were detected and several important compounds such as organic phosphates, 1,4‐dioxane, phthalates, and bisphenol A were present at high concentrations. Waste plastics are a possible origin for these compounds. The ratio of characterized compounds to total organic carbon was unexpectedly low. Phenols and ethers were the main components as deduced from the carbon contents. Most of the chlorine appears to be present as non‐volatile substances.

A significant difference in the amount of exhaled mercury per hour between normal and acatalasemic mice was observed in 7 of 11 experiments for different periods of time. The total amount of mercury exhaled from acatalasemic mice was significantly higher than those of normal mice. The results confirm that the reduction of mercuric ion to metallic mercury occurs by recycling of mercury in the tissues and reoxidized metallic mercury to mercuric ion by catalase. Mercuric ion was reduced to metallic mercury in the presence of superoxide anion in vitro. The reduction rate of mercuric ion to metallic mercury in the presence of both superoxide anion and cytochrome C or nitro blue tetrazolium was higher than that in the presence of superoxide anion alone, and the reduction of mercuric ion by NADPH or NADH was also observed. The reduction of mercuric ion to metallic mercury by liver homogenates of acatalasemic mice was higher than that of normal mice.

No abstract

Organic compounds and inorganic elements were determined in leachates from 11 landfill sites in Japan. With regard to the inorganic elements, the concentration of boron was found to be fairly high. More than 100 organic compounds were detected and several important compounds such as organic phosphates, 1,4-dioxane, phthalates, and bisphenol A were present at high concentrations. Waste plastics are a possible origin for these compounds. The ratio of characterized compounds to total organic carbon was unexpectedly low. Phenols and ethers were the main components as deduced from the carbon contents. Most of the chlorine appears to be present as non-volatile substances.