Twenty-eight process wastewaters and thirty-seven organic substances identified in the wastewater of the Kashima petrochemical complex were subjected to biodegradability tests. The tests consisted of the activated sludge degradability method and a supplementary test using the respiration meter method. Both tests utilized the activated sludge of the Fukashiba industrial wastewater treatment plant, which was acclimatized to the wastewater and organic substances. The 28 process wastewaters were classified into biodegradable, less biodegradable, and non-biodegradable according to the percentage TOC removal and the BOD5/TOC ratio of the wastewater. The 37 organic substances were also classified into biodegradable, less biodegradable and non-biodegradable according to TOC and CODMn removal. In general, chlorinated compounds, nitro-aromatics and polymerized compounds were difficult to biodegrade. From the biodegradability tests of the factory wastewaters, it was found that the refractory CODMn loads of these factories contributed to the load remaining in the effluent of the wastewater treatment plant. Various improvements were made to reduce the discharge of refractory substances from the factories.

Fluoro-Jade C (FJC) staining has been used to detect degenerating neurons in tissue sections. It is a simple and easy staining procedure and does not depend on the manner of cell death. In some experiments, double staining with FJC and fluorescent immunostaining (FI) is required to identify cell types. However, pretreatment for FJC staining contains some processes that are harsh to fluorophores, and the FI signal is greatly reduced. To overcome this issue, we improved the double staining protocol to acquire clear double-stained images by introducing the labeled streptavidin–biotin system. In addition, several studies indicate that FJC can label non-degenerating glial cells, including resting/reactive astrocytes and activated microglia. Moreover, our previous study indicated that degenerating mesenchymal cells were also labeled by FJC, but it is still unclear whether FJC can label degenerating glial cells. Acute encephalopathy model mice contained damaged astrocytes with clasmatodendrosis, and 6-aminonicotinamide-injected mice contained necrotic astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. Using our improved double staining protocol with FJC and FI, we detected FJC-labeled degenerating astrocytes and oligodendrocytes with pyknotic nuclei. These results indicate that FJC is not specific to degenerating neurons in some experimental conditions:

The Kashima petrochemical complex and the Fukashiba industrial wastewater treatment plant are described. The complex consists of 19 core factories (petroleum, petrochemicals, and thermal power generation) and 39 other factories (including organic chemicals, foods, metals, machinery, etc.). The total amount of industrial wastewater produced is 59,800 m3/day. The treatment plant also accepts municipal wastewater from the surrounding area, totalling 1,100 m3/d. A system for charging for the industrial wastewater has been introduced. The water quality standards for the industrial wastewater discharged to the sewerage system and the effluent of the treatment plant are described. The main treatment process is activated sludge with operational conditions of high dissolved oxygen and long solids retention time (SRT). These operational conditions solved the problems of high ammonia and refractory substances in the influent. Complete nitrification occurred under the low alkalinity conditions and the effluent COD was low due to the long SRT. Successful operation and maintenance were achieved by good co-operation between the factories and the treatment plant.

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