title: Estimated long-term dietary exposure to lead, cadmium, and mercury in young Korean children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Controlling for day-to-day variation is a key issue in estimating long-term dietary exposure to heavy metals using 24-hour recall (24HR) data from a relatively small number of days.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study was conducted to estimate long-term dietary exposure to lead, cadmium and mercury among Korean children using the Iowa State University (ISU) method and to assess the contributions of different food groups to heavy metal intake.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed 2 days of 24HR data from 457 children between 0 and 6 years of age in 2010. Using bootstrapped concentration data for 118 representative foods, 93.5% of total intake was included in the exposure estimates in this study. Using the 2-day exposure data, we estimated long-term exposure by controlling for within-individual variation using the ISU method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The long-term dietary exposure estimates (mean±standard deviation) for lead, cadmium, and mercury were 0.47±0.14, 0.38±0.20, and 0.22±0.08 μg/kg bw/day, respectively. For lead and cadmium, the percentages of children whose exposure was greater than the reference value were 35 and 42%, respectively. Fruits were an important source of lead exposure, and cereal and fish and shellfish made the greatest contributions to the total cadmium and mercury exposure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings also suggest that the long-term exposure to lead and cadmium was somewhat greater than the reference values, whereas mercury exposure was well below than the reference value in this population. Further studies may be necessary to evaluate the food items contributing to heavy metal exposure, and continuous monitoring is needed to ensure the safety of food intake and dietary patterns among vulnerable groups in Korea.
authors: Molecular Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Center, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
authors: D W
authors: DW
authors: Kim
authors: Molecular Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Center, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
authors: H D
authors: HD
authors: Woo
authors: Biometric Research Branch, National Cancer Center, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Joo
authors: Advanced Analysis Center, Research Planning & Coordination Division, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors: K S
authors: KS
authors: Park
authors: Department of Food & Nutrition, College of Human Ecology, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors: S Y
authors: SY
authors: Oh
authors: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan-si, Chungcheongnam-do, Republic of Korea.
authors: H J
authors: HJ
authors: Kwon
authors: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors: J D
authors: JD
authors: Park
authors: Dong-A University, Regional Cardiocerebrovascular Center, Busan, Republic of Korea.
authors: Y S
authors: YS
authors: Hong
authors: Department of Preventive Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Republic of Korea.
authors: S J
authors: SJ
authors: Sohn
authors: Risk Analysis & Research Division, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Cheongwon-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do, Republic of Korea.
authors: H J
authors: HJ
authors: Yoon
authors: Risk Analysis & Research Division, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Cheongwon-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do, Republic of Korea.
authors: M S
authors: MS
authors: Hwang
authors: Molecular Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Center, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Kim
mesh_terms: D002104:Cadmium; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004435:Eating; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007854:Lead; D008297:Male; D008628:Mercury; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D002104:Cadmium; D007854:Lead; D008628:Mercury