Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) are commonly used as flame retardants in plastics. The use of these two compounds in electric appliances will be banned in 2007 by the EU Directives on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances (RoHS) in electrical and electronic equipment. In Japan, the use of PBB was banned and that of PBDE diminished in the early 1990s by the self-imposed controls of the Japanese Flame Retardants Conference (Akutu and Hori, 2004). In Japan, the predominantly used organic flame retardants were tetrabromobisphenol A and organophosphate compounds. Tetrabromobisphenol A has been reported to disrupt endocrine systems (Kitamura et al., 2005), and some organophosphate flame retardants were recently reported to have neurochemical hazardous effects. Furthermore, organophosphate compounds were suspected to cause endocrine-disrupting effects (Fang et al., 2003; Ohyama et al., 2005) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (Winrow et al., 2003). In this study, organophosphate and polybrominated flame retardants were surveyed in indoor environments in Tokyo.

The reactions of malonaldehyde with guanosine and 2′-deoxyguanosine proceed slowly under acidic conditions to give new pyrimidopurine nucleosides, 3a and 3b, respectively. These compounds emit strong yellow fluorescence and are hydrolyzed by NaOH into malonaldehyde and guanosine from 3a (2′-deoxyguanosine from 3b). From chemical and spectroscopic evidence, these compounds were deduced to be 3-β-d-ribofuranosylpyrimido[1,2-a]purin-10(3H)-one (3a) and 3-(2-deoxy-β-d-erythro-pentofuranosyl)pyrimido[1,2-a]purin-10(3H)-one (3b). No products were detected in the reaction mixture of malonaldehyde with 1-methylguanosine, adenosine, cytidine, uridine, thymidine, 2′-deoxyadenosine, or 2′-deoxycytidine.

Die Reaktion von Malonaldehyd (I) mit Guanosin (IIa) bzw. T‐Desoxyguanosin (IIb) unter sauren Bedingungen führt zur Bildung der stark gelb fluoreszierenden Titel‐Nucleoside (III).

Alkylphenol ethoxylate (APE) are widely used surfactants in both industrial and domestic detergents. When these detergents are released into the environment, APE are biodegraded to the smaller chain ethoxylates and alkylphenols (APs). There are many reports about APs in aquatic environments because of their estrogenic effect on wildlife. In building materials, APs are used as antioxidant for polymer resins such as wall or floor coverings. Although APs has a lower vapor pressure, these agents are released into indoor air from the surface of polymer resins. This study surveyed concentrations of airborne AP in indoor air and outdoor air in Tokyo. In addition, to identify APs emission sources in a newly built house, migration tests of APs from interior surfaces to solid extraction disks were performed.

A new modified nucleoside was formed by the reaction of guanosine with malonaldehyde under acidic condition. This compound emitted strong yellow fluorescence and was hydrolyzed by NaOH into guanosine and malonaldehyde. Its structure was determined to be 1,N2-(1-propenyl-3-ylidene)guanosine by the spectroscopic analysis.