環境

学術研究成果リスト

Detail of Grant Awarded Academic Researches

Project

Distribution of a rare earth element and its origin in Tama River waters -Relationship with gadolinium concentration of MRI contrast agent-

Academic
Research
No.336
Principal
Investigator
Kazumasa Inoue
Affiliation Tokyo Metropolitan University Faculty of Health Sciencies Graduate School of Human Health Sciencies Associate professor
Research
Summary

Higher concentrations of gadolinium(Gd)have been detected compared to other earth elements in river waters of many developed countries.

These gadolinium concentrations are considered due to gadolinium contrast agents used in MRI tests which are indispensable in today's medical diagnoses using MR images.

After being administered to patients,the contrast agents end up in sewage disposal plants where they are not removed,but simply released untreated.

Therefore, the concentration of gadolinium contained in in the Tama River(Tamagawa)waters was evaluated.

In this study, the maximum concentration of 0.139 ppb gadolinium was detected near a sewage disposal plant on the Sen River(Sengawa),a tributary to the Tamagawa,and this value was 256 times higher than the background value.

Additionally,high concentrations were also detected near a sewage disposal plant in another location.

A good correlation between the number of MRI devices installed in Tokyo and concentration of gadolinium in discharged water from the sewage disposal plants was shown.

Thus,it seemed that gadolinium excreted in urine after MRI tests was released to rivers without being processed by he sewage disposal plants.


Collaborators

Masahiro Fukushi

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