Laboratory of Intellectual
Fundamentals for Environmental Studies

• Japanese

Outline of Research ( pamphlet )

The Laboratory of Intellectual Fundamentals for Environmental Studies acts as a “reference laboratory” for environmental research in order to assist in the formation of research networks and to allow our researchers to implement their research effectively.

In order to provide a safe and secure environment to the citizens of Japan, we provide environmental “certified reference materials” (CRMs) that are essential quality control and assurance in environmental measurement and a variety of specimens, such as microalgae, daphnia, and prawns, which can be used in studies on the impact of pollution.

Furthermore, we are also engaged in an “Environmental Specimen Time Capsule” program which aims to provide samples taken from the current environment to future generations.

Environmental Certified Reference Materials

The environment contains an almost infinite variety of media: water, air, soil, sediment, life forms, etc. While being able to measure pollutants in these complex media accurately is necessary to the solution of environmental problems, it is not an easy task. No one can truly know the “absolute correct value” of anything, but we must try our best to obtain the “most correct value”. Environmental certified reference materials are collected from various media. The concentrations of contaminants in these materials have been tested by experts using a variety of approved measurement methods and determined by them to be “the most correct”. By comparative measurement between environmental samples and these certified specimens, it is possible to identify the “most correct ” amounts of pollutants in the samples.
 http://www.nies.go.jp/kenkyu/yusyo/index.html

Environment Specimen Time Capsule

How can we figure out when a particular pollutant starting appearing in the environment? If we had environmental samples that reflected the state of the environment in the past, we could pinpoint when the pollution started, in the same way that air bubbles trapped in glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland can tell us about carbon dioxide levels in the past. We are trying to find such environmental samples that can tell us about past eras, but it is not easy to locate them. However, if we start collecting such samples from the present environment and storing them in “time capsules”, future generations will be able to make use of them. The “Environmental Specimen Time Capsule” program at NIES is endeavoring to do just that by storing a variety of environmental specimens at extremely low temperatures.
 http://www.nies.go.jp/timecaps1/indexE.htm

Breeding Endangered Birds

Many birds are becoming endangered due to destruction of their habitats, the invasion of foreign predators such as mongooses, and the impact of environmental pollutants such as agrochemicals. Even though we want to, we cannot fix these problems immediately.

We are doing research on preserving cells from endangered animals and trying to reproduce individuals from the preserved cells so that we can wait for the environment to improve and rerelease the animals into the wild.
 http://www.nies.go.jp/kanko/news/23/23-6/23-6-04.html