RISES IN URINARY BICARBONATE CONTENTS AND PH OF ADULT TOKYO CITIZENS

Urinary bicarbonate has been considered to be negligible, and the pH o f urine to be low (around pH 5.5) for these fifty years. It was, howev er, found that the contents of bicarbonate and pH of the urine of adul t Tokyo citizens (435 adults including 148 males and 287 females) subs tantially increased. The findings may be correlated with increased inh aled amounts of carbon dioxide which finally causes the increase of ur inary excretion of bicarbonate, though evidence that the gas accumulat es in the atmosphere of Tokyo due to air pollution has not been direct ly demonstrated.