title: Korea National Survey for Environmental Pollutants in the Human Body 2008: heavy metals in the blood or urine of the Korean population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recently, there have been several nationwide episodes involving imported toys contaminated with toxic metals and environmental hormones. In addition, cadmium intoxication has occurred due to soil contamination with cadmium from abandoned metal mines.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the distribution, extent and factors influencing the levels of toxic metals in the blood or urine of the Korean general population over twenty years of age, we studied the blood or urine concentrations of heavy metals in a representative sample of 5087 Koreans in 2008.
  
  
  METHODS
  Multiple biological substrates were collected from each participant to determine the most suitable samples for an environmental health survey system. Information regarding exposure conditions of all subjects was collected by questionnaire-based interviews.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The geometric means of the blood lead, mercury and manganese levels were 19.1, 3.23 and 10.8 μg/L, respectively. The geometric means of urinary arsenic and cadmium concentrations were 43.5 and 0.65 μg/L, respectively. Blood mercury and urinary arsenic levels in the Korean general population were significantly higher than in European and American populations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The higher levels of blood mercury and urinary arsenic could be explained by the greater seafood consumption among the Korean population. This biomonitoring study of blood or urine heavy metals in the Korean general population provides important reference data stratified by demographic and lifestyle factors that will be useful for the ongoing surveillance of environmental exposure of Koreans to toxic metals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, College of Natural Science, Soonchunhyang University, Asan, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jong Wha
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Chae Kwan
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Chan Seok
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.forename: In Ja
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Kee Jae
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Seung-Muk
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Bong-Ki
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Byoung Jun
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Dae Seon
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Domyung
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Peak
authors.forename: Donggeun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sul
authors.forename: Eunha
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Hosub
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Im
authors.forename: Hee Sook
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Jeounghee
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jong-Tae
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kisok
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kyung Lyoul
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Ryoungme
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Seok Hwan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Seong Cheon
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Choong-Hee
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jin Heon
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood* / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000097:blood* / Q000652:urine*; D008875:Middle Aged; D056910:Republic of Korea; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D019216:Metals, Heavy