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Environmental and food contamination with PCB's in Japan.

In Japan "yusho", i.e., poisoning caused by ingestion of rice oil contaminated with PCB's, broke out in October 1968, and produced more than 1200 officially certified cases. Nevertheless, it was only regarded as a kind of food poisoning and its connection with environmental and biological contamination was only imperfectly taken into consideration. Finally, in the autumn of 1970, two study groups, from the Ehime University and the Kyoto City Hygienic Institute, reported on the PCB contamination of salt water and fresh water fishes in Japan. Subsequently many reports about PCB's as an environmental contaminant have been published by several study groups throughout Japan, and nowadays the PCB polluted state of Japan has become rather clearly recognized. This report will present information on environmental, food and human contamination with PCB's in Japan especially also in some typically contaminated local areas, in addition to summarizing some overall aspects of the PCB problem in Japan (e.g., the production, shipment and use of PCB's).

Adipose Tissue

Some effects of ingested petroleum on seawater-adapted ducks (Anas platyrhynchos).

Male Pekin ducks adapted to seawater and maintained under sheltered conditions (27 degrees C) in the laboratory may consume considerable volumes of petroleum without showing overt symptoms of distress. Under these conditions, birds consuming petroleum-contaminated food have shown a persistent hyperphagia; this was most apparent among those given food contaminated with South Louisiana crude oil, least apparent among birds given No. 2 fuel oil, and intermediate among those that consumed food contaminated with Kuwait crude oil. When maintained at 27 degrees C, some mortality occurred among the birds given South Louisiana crude oil (22.2%) and No. 2 fuel oil (35.7%), whereas none of the freshwater- and seawater-maintained birds given uncontaminated food and none of the birds given Kuwait crude oil died during this period. Following their exposure to chronic mild cold stress (3 degrees C), mortality occurred in all groups of birds; the birds that had consumed petroleum-contaminated food tended to die earlier and in larger numbers than either the seawater- or freshwater-maintained control birds. These effects suggest that the mortality in all groups of birds was due primarily to the additive effects of a series of nonspecific stressors. Thus, at autopsy, birds that had succumbed to the effects of these stressors frequently showed adrenal hypertrophy and severe involution of the lymphoepithelial tissues. The consumption of petroleum-contaminated food seemed to constitute only one of a series of environmental stressors, and, among birds that were already exposed to stressors such as hypertonic drinking water and persistent cold, the ingestion of petroleum seemed to render them more vulnerable and death frequently ensued.

Animals

Metallic contamination of food during preparation and storage: development of methods and some preliminary results.

A chemical procedure for studying trace metals leached from metallic cooking utensils and preserving cans used in the preparation and storage of food has been developed. The method consists in the destruction of the major part of organic matter with HNO3-vapour followed by a complete mineralization of residues with small amounts of HNO3 in Teflon bombs at 150-160 degrees C under a pressure of 3-12 kg/cm2, depending on the amount and composition of the samples. Subsequently, an ion-exchange step removes major components and concentrates the trace elements in a dilute HNO3-solution, suitable for analysis. The ion-exchange separation, which is performed with an automatic ion-exchange separator, is practically free from blank level problems, e.g., typically a mean of less than 2 per cent of the sample levels of the elements being determined. Preliminary results show that large amounts of aluminium are released from vessels to the water during boiling at the same pH-range which exist for most drinking water in Sweden.

Aluminum

Separation of normal paraffins and evaluation of petroleum contamination in foods.

A method for separating n-paraffins from petroleum hydrocarbons in foods was developed. The method consists of 5 initial steps: digestion of sample with alkali, silica gel column chromatography, molecular sieve adsorption, destruction of the sieve with HCl, and oxidation with KMnO4. Recoveries of n-paraffins added to 55 g oyster at a level of 0.36 ppm ranged from 80% for normal pentadecane to 100% for n-paraffins over 18 carbon atoms. This method also facilitated the analysis of iso-paraffins such as pristane (2,6,10,14-tetramethylpentadecane) and phytane (2,6,10,14-tetramethylhexadecane), and other hydrocarbons, which are thought to be good marker compounds for the estimation of petroleum pollution.

Environmental Pollutants

[Survey of contamination of food by 3, 4-benzopyrene. I. Demonstration of a universal method of determination. Application to the determination in complete meals in food emporia].

A versatile spectrofluorimetric method is proposed for the determination of 3,4-benzopyrene in foods and biological material. Recording the emission spectrum allows a reliable identification, and determination at a 0,2 ppb level, with 85 p. 100 recovery and good reproductibility. The time required for analysis is decreased, if compared to existing methods. As a test of its reliability, results of a survey on 3,4-benzopyrene content in canteen meals are presented. The values obtain are very low, generally below 1 ppb; their significance is discussed.

Animals

Foodborne hepatitis A infection: a report of two urban restaurant-associated outbreaks.

The cities of Portland, Oregon, and Buffalo, New York, each experienced a restaurant-associated foodborne outbreak of viral hepatitis type A during 1975. Although there were several food handlers ill with viral hepatitis A in each of the restaurants involved, each outbreak was the apparent result of food contamination by a single food handler. In the Buffalo outbreak, food contamination was documented to have occurred for a brief period of time six days prior to onset of any symptoms in the index case. These outbreaks point out the uncommon occurrence of food contamination by individuals ill with type A viral hepatitis, the usefulness of two types of food questionnaires in identifying the vehicle(s) of transmission, and the apparent lack of benefit of widespread immune serum globulin administration as a control measure in this setting.

Adult

Evaluation of staphylococcal thermonuclease (TNase) assay as a means of screening foods for growth of staphylococci and possible enterotoxin production.

Samples of food, naturally and artificially contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus, were analyzed for enterotoxin and thermonuclease (TNase). With the exception of egg, all naturally contaminated foods with detectable amounts of staphylococcal enterotoxin were positive for TNase. The enzyme was also present in the majority of foods with over 1 million S. aureus cells per gram. In artificially contaminated foods. TNase was detected in all samples except egg, acidic foods in which growth of S. aureus was suppressed, and some samples of raw ground beef. Recovery of TNase was influenced by the type of food.

Enterotoxins

Formation of carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds in corn-bread inoculated with fungi.

DMNA, DENA and MBNA are formed in corn-bread which has been inoculated with the most common species of fungi found in foodstuffs of Lin Xian County, Henan Province, such as F. moniliforme, A. flavus and others, and then, added with small amount of NaNO2 after a few days of incubation. These carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds can induce cancer of the liver or/and esophagus in experimental animals. Results of the present study show the capability of some fungi to produce chemical carcinogens as well as mycotoxins in contaminated food, and thus, open a new field of research in cancer etiology.

Aspergillus flavus