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Access to dental clinics is a feature of the neighborhood service environment that may influence oral health care utilization. However, residential selection poses a challenge to causal inference. By studying the involuntary relocation of survivors of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (GEJE), we examined the association between changes in geographic distance to dental clinics and dental visits. Longitudinal data from a cohort of older residents in Iwanuma City directly impacted by the GEJE were analyzed in this study. The baseline survey was conducted in 2010, 7 mo before the occurrence of GEJE, and a follow-up was conducted in 2016. Using Poisson regression models, we estimated the incidence rate ratios (IRR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the uptake of denture use (as a proxy for dental visits) according to changes in distance from the nearest dental clinic to their house. Age at baseline, housing damage by the disaster, deteriorating economic conditions, and worsened physical activity were used as confounders. Among the 1,098 participants who had not worn dentures before the GEJE, 495 were men (45.1%), with a mean ± SD age at baseline of 74.0 ± 6.9 y. During the 6-year follow-up, 372 (33.9%) participants initiated denture use. Compared to those who experienced a large increase in distance to dental clinics (>370.0–6,299.1 m), a large decrease in distance to dental clinics (>429.0–5,382.6 m) was associated with a marginally significantly higher initiation of denture use among disaster survivors (IRR = 1.28; 95% CI, 0.99–1.66). The experience of major housing damage was independently associated with higher initiation of denture use (IRR = 1.77; 95% CI, 1.47−2.14). Improved geographic access to dental clinics may increase dental visits of disaster survivors. Further studies in non-disaster-affected areas are needed to generalize these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, people spend most of their time indoors; thus, the indoor environment greatly affects human health because of exposure to chemicals indoors. Thus, in collaboration with Japanese house builders, a list of building materials having low volatile organic compound concentrations was compiled herein. The air-quality samples from seven newly built houses (seven bedrooms and seven living rooms) were collected and tested for 64 volatile organic compounds and two aldehydes. Air samples were obtained from the house with no furniture or household goods and were sampled 1 week after construction and repeated after a month. Furthermore, the test results with a 2009 survey of indoor air quality in newly constructed houses were compared. One week after construction, the xylene, styrene, toluene, formaldehyde, and ethylbenzene concentrations were less than half the standard guideline values set in Japan. The main substances detected in the samples were 2-butanone, acetone, ethanol, ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, and undecane. The statistical significance of the changes in substance concentrations over time was examined via Wilcoxon signed-rank test. One month after construction, the concentrations of all chemical substances had undergone a statistically significant reduction, except butyl acetate. The median of total volatile organic compounds in living rooms was 291 µg/m3, and the maximum was 354 µg/m3; both were under Japan's provisional total volatile organic compound target of 400 µg/m3. These values were significantly lower than those recorded by other researchers. This study concludes that using experimentally identified low volatile organic compound materials effectively improves the indoor air quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, sick building syndrome remains a considerable social issue. It is primarily caused by the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from construction materials. Among these, paints and sealers are used over wide swaths of are a and their use causes chemical substances to be released in a room. To prevent sick building syndrome, it is necessary to clarify the cause of air quality changes due to the different types of paints and sealers available. Recently, low-VOC paints (containing 0.3–1.0% VOCs) have been used widely; however, the effects of reducing VOC levels have not yet been fully quantified. This study aims to clarify the chemical compositions by conducting an emission rate test of these low-VOC paints and sealers. We prepared six specimens and used them for chamber testing. Three types of paint with and without a sealer were tested. The minimum and maximum total volatile organic compound (TVOC) concentration was 96 and 4750 μgm−2 h−1, respectively. Differences in the VOC content of the paints and sealers could be confirmed. The main TVOC was Texanol™ and glycerol ethers. The results demonstrate that using paints containing less than 0.3% VOCs can decrease the VOC emission rate considerably compared to paints classified as less than 1% VOCs. Moreover, because different kinds of sealers affected the results, it is possible to decrease VOC emission rate using a variety of sealers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]