Journal of Korean Medical Science

Korean Acad Medical Sciences (대한의학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Lead, Mercury, and Cadmium Exposure in the Korean General Population

  • Eom, Sang-Yong (Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Chungbuk National University) ;
  • Lee, Young-Sub (Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University) ;
  • Lee, Seul-Gi (Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University) ;
  • Seo, Mi-Na (Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University) ;
  • Choi, Byung-Sun (Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University) ;
  • Kim, Yong-Dae (Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Chungbuk National University) ;
  • Lim, Ji-Ae (Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Dankook University) ;
  • Hwang, Myung-Sil (Food Risk Analysis Division, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation) ;
  • Kwon, Ho-Jang (Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Dankook University) ;
  • Kim, Yu-Mi (Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Dong-A University) ;
  • Hong, Young-Seoub (Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Dong-A University) ;
  • Sohn, Seok-Joon (Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Chonnam National University) ;
  • Park, Kyung Su (Advanced Analysis Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology) ;
  • Pyo, Hee-Soo (Biomolecules Function Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology) ;
  • Kim, Ho (Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Seoul National University) ;
  • Kim, Heon (Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Chungbuk National University) ;
  • Park, Jung-Duck (Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University)
  • Received : 2017.07.15
  • Accepted : 2017.09.30
  • Published : 2018.01.08
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Background: Lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and cadmium (Cd) are well-known environmental pollutants. They are unnecessary in the biological processes of humans. This study was performed to estimate the representative background exposure levels to the metals by measuring concentrations in whole blood of the Korean general population. Methods: This population-based cross-sectional study included 4,000 subjects (1,886 males and 2,114 females) 0-83 years of age in 2010 and 2011. Adult subjects (${\geq}19$ years of age) were collected by sex- and age-stratified probability method, and preschool- and school-aged subjects were recruited by a cluster sampling method. Written consent was provided prior to blood sampling. Pb and Cd blood concentrations were determined by a flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry, and blood Hg was analyzed by a direct Hg analyzer. Results: The geometric mean, median and 95th percentile of blood Pb was $1.82{\mu}g/dL$, $1.83{\mu}g/dL$, and $3.78{\mu}g/dL$, respectively. The respective values were $2.92{\mu}g/L$, $2.87{\mu}g/L$, $9.12{\mu}g/L$ for Hg, and $0.56{\mu}g/L$, $0.59{\mu}g/L$, $2.20{\mu}g/L$ for Cd. Blood Pb and Hg were higher in males than in females, but no sex difference was observed, respectively, in subjects 0-4 years of age for Pb and in subjects less than 20 years for Hg. However, blood Cd was higher in females than in males and no sex difference was observed in subjects < 30 years of age. Conclusion: This study provides representative data of human exposure to Pb, Hg, and Cd covering whole age groups of the general population in Korea.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

Supported by : Ministry of Food and Drug Safety

References

  1. The ATSDR 2015 priority list of hazardous subtances. https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/spl/. Updated 2015. Accessed April 13, 2017.
  2. Tsuchiya K. Causation of Ouch-Ouch Disease (Itai-Itai Byo)--an introductory review. II. Epidemiology and evaluation. Keio J Med 1969;18(4):195-211. https://doi.org/10.2302/kjm.18.195
  3. Harada M. Minamata disease: methylmercury poisoning in Japan caused by environmental pollution. Crit Rev Toxicol 1995;25(1):1-24. https://doi.org/10.3109/10408449509089885
  4. Dooyema CA, Neri A, Lo YC, Durant J, Dargan PI, Swarthout T, et al. Outbreak of fatal childhood lead poisoning related to artisanal gold mining in northwestern Nigeria, 2010. Environ Health Perspect 2012;120(4):601-7. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1103965
  5. Son JY, Lee J, Paek D, Lee JT. Blood levels of lead, cadmium, and mercury in the Korean population: results from the second Korean National Human Exposure and Bio-monitoring Examination. Environ Res 2009;109(6):738-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2009.03.012
  6. Kim Y, Lee BK. Associations of blood lead, cadmium, and mercury with estimated glomerular filtration rate in the Korean general population: analysis of 2008-2010 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. Environ Res 2012;118:124-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2012.06.003
  7. Choi W, Kim S, Baek YW, Choi K, Lee K, Kim S, et al. Exposure to environmental chemicals among Korean adults-updates from the second Korean National Environmental Health Survey (2012-2014). Int J Hyg Environ Health 2017;220(2 Pt A):29-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2016.10.002
  8. Au WW. Susceptibility of children to environmental toxic substances. Int J Hyg Environ Health 2002;205(6):501-3. https://doi.org/10.1078/1438-4639-00179
  9. Tchounwou PB, Yedjou CG, Patlolla AK, Sutton DJ. Heavy metal toxicity and the environment. EXS 2012;101:133-64.
  10. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; World Health Organization. Evaluation of Certain Food Additives and Contaminants: Seventy-Third Report of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2011.
  11. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Blood lead levels in children aged 1-5 years-United States, 1999-2010. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2013;62(13):245-8.
  12. Wilhelm M, Heinzow B, Angerer J, Schulz C. Reassessment of critical lead effects by the German Human Biomonitoring Commission results in suspension of the human biomonitoring values (HBM I and HBM II) for lead in blood of children and adults. Int J Hyg Environ Health 2010;213(4):265-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2010.04.002
  13. Eom SY, Choi SH, Ahn SJ, Kim DK, Kim DW, Lim JA, et al. Reference levels of blood mercury and association with metabolic syndrome in Korean adults. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 2014;87(5):501-13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-013-0891-8
  14. Lim JA, Kwon HJ, Ha M, Kim H, Oh SY, Kim JS, et al. Korean research project on the integrated exposure assessment of hazardous substances for food safety. Environ Health Toxicol 2015;30(1):e2015004. https://doi.org/10.5620/eht.e2015004
  15. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US). Fourth National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2015.
  16. Health Canada. Third Report on Human Biomonitoring of Environmental Chemicals in Canada: Results of the Canadian Health Measures Survey Cycle 3 (2012-2013). Ottawa, Canada: Health Canada; 2015.
  17. Becker K, Kaus S, Krause C, Lepom P, Schulz C, Seiwert M, et al. German Environmental Survey 1998 (GerES III): environmental pollutants in blood of the German population. Int J Hyg Environ Health 2002;205(4):297-308. https://doi.org/10.1078/1438-4639-00155
  18. Heitland P, Koster HD. Biomonitoring of 37 trace elements in blood samples from inhabitants of northern Germany by ICP-MS. J Trace Elem Med Biol 2006;20(4):253-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2006.08.001
  19. Becker K, Müssig-Zufika M, Conrad A, Lüdecke A, Schulz C, Seiwert M, et al. German Environmental Survey for Children 2003/06 (GerES IV): Human Biomonitoring. Dessau-Rosslau, Germany: Umweltbundesamt; 2008.
  20. Jarup L. Hazards of heavy metal contamination. Br Med Bull 2003;68(1):167-82. https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldg032
  21. Becker K, Schroeter-Kermani C, Seiwert M, Rüther M, Conrad A, Schulz C, et al. German health-related environmental monitoring: assessing time trends of the general population's exposure to heavy metals. Int J Hyg Environ Health 2013;216(3):250-4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2013.01.002
  22. Hong SB, Im MH, Kim JW, Park EJ, Shin MS, Kim BN, et al. Environmental lead exposure and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptom domains in a community sample of South Korean school-age children. Environ Health Perspect 2015;123(3):271-6.
  23. Skerfving S, Lofmark L, Lundh T, Mikoczy Z, Stromberg U. Late effects of low blood lead concentrations in children on school performance and cognitive functions. Neurotoxicology 2015;49:114-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuro.2015.05.009
  24. Schulz C, Angerer J, Ewers U, Kolossa-Gehring M. The German Human Biomonitoring Commission. Int J Hyg Environ Health 2007;210(3-4):373-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2007.01.035
  25. Kim NY, Ahn SJ, Ryu DY, Choi BS, Kim H, Yu IJ, et al. Effect of lifestyles on the blood mercury level in Korean adults. Hum Exp Toxicol 2013;32(6):591-9. https://doi.org/10.1177/0960327112467041
  26. Yaginuma-Sakurai K, Shimada M, Ohba T, Nakai K, Suzuki K, Kurokawa N, et al. Assessment of exposure to methylmercury in pregnant Japanese women by FFQ. Public Health Nutr 2009;12(12):2352-8. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980009005011
  27. Lee CC, Chang JW, Huang HY, Chen HL. Factors influencing blood mercury levels of inhabitants living near fishing areas. Sci Total Environ 2012;424:316-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.01.049
  28. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (US). Toxicological Profile for Mercury (Update). Atlanta, GA: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; 1999.
  29. Sakamoto M, Yasutake A, Domingo JL, Chan HM, Kubota M, Murata K. Relationships between trace element concentrations in chorionic tissue of placenta and umbilical cord tissue: potential use as indicators for prenatal exposure. Environ Int 2013;60:106-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2013.08.007
  30. Grandjean P, Weihe P, White RF, Debes F, Araki S, Yokoyama K, et al. Cognitive deficit in 7-year-old children with prenatal exposure to methylmercury. Neurotoxicol Teratol 1997;19(6):417-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0892-0362(97)00097-4
  31. Schober SE, Sinks TH, Jones RL, Bolger PM, McDowell M, Osterloh J, et al. Blood mercury levels in US children and women of childbearing age, 1999-2000. JAMA 2003;289(13):1667-74. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.289.13.1667
  32. American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists. ACGIH Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) and Biological Exposure Indices (BEIs). Cincinati, OH: American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists; 2014.
  33. Ikeda M, Ohashi F, Fukui Y, Sakuragi S, Moriguchi J. Closer correlation of cadmium in urine than that of cadmium in blood with tubular dysfunction markers in urine among general women populations in Japan. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 2011;84(2):121-9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-010-0527-1
  34. Wang D, Sun H, Wu Y, Zhou Z, Ding Z, Chen X, et al. Tubular and glomerular kidney effects in the Chinese general population with low environmental cadmium exposure. Chemosphere 2016;147:3-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2015.11.069
  35. Tsukahara T, Ezaki T, Moriguchi J, Furuki K, Shimbo S, Matsuda-Inoguchi N, et al. Rice as the most influential source of cadmium intake among general Japanese population. Sci Total Environ 2003;305(1-3):41-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-9697(02)00475-8
  36. Huang M, Choi SJ, Kim DW, Kim NY, Bae HS, Yu SD, et al. Evaluation of factors associated with cadmium exposure and kidney function in the general population. Environ Toxicol 2013;28(10):563-70. https://doi.org/10.1002/tox.20750
  37. Sugita M, Tsuchiya K. Estimation of variation among individuals of biological half-time of cadmium calculated from accumulation data. Environ Res 1995;68(1):31-7. https://doi.org/10.1006/enrs.1995.1005
  38. McLean E, Cogswell M, Egli I, Wojdyla D, de Benoist B. Worldwide prevalence of anaemia, WHO Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System, 1993-2005. Public Health Nutr 2009;12(4):444-54. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980008002401
  39. Rhie J, Lee HE. Physical activity and blood lead concentration in Korea: study using the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2008-2013). J Korean Med Sci 2016;31(6):852-8. https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2016.31.6.852
  40. Ryu DY, Lee SJ, Park DW, Choi BS, Klaassen CD, Park JD. Dietary iron regulates intestinal cadmium absorption through iron transporters in rats. Toxicol Lett 2004;152(1):19-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxlet.2004.03.015

Cited by

  1. Association of Blood Pressure with Blood Lead and Cadmium Levels in Korean Adolescents: Analysis of Data from the 2010–2016 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey vol.33, pp.44, 2018, https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2018.33.e278
  2. Atomic Spectrometry Update: review of advances in the analysis of clinical and biological materials, foods and beverages vol.34, pp.3, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1039/c9ja90004g
  3. Antibiotic and heavy metal resistance genes in Aeromonas spp. isolated from marketed Manila Clam (Ruditapes philippinarum) in Korea vol.127, pp.3, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.14355
  4. An Important Need to Monitor from an Early Age the Neurotoxins in the Blood or by an Equivalent Biomarker vol.16, pp.18, 2019, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16183425
  5. Association of Blood Mercury Level with the Risk of Depression According to Fish Intake Level in the General Korean Population: Findings from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surve vol.12, pp.1, 2018, https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12010189
  6. Effects of heavy metal, vitamin, and curry consumption on metabolic syndrome during menopause: a Korean community-based cross-sectional study vol.28, pp.8, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1097/gme.0000000000001825
  7. Effects of Exposure to Lead and Cadmium on Health of Inhabitants of Abandoned Metal Mine Area in Korea vol.80, pp.2, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-021-00813-7
  8. Elevated cadmium and 8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) levels in residents living near electroplating industries vol.28, pp.26, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13209-w
  9. Association between Pb, Cd, and Hg Exposure and Liver Injury among Korean Adults vol.18, pp.13, 2018, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18136783
  10. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEAD AND CADMIUM LEVELS IN BLOOD AND REFRACTORY CHRONIC CONSTIPATION AMONG IRANIAN CHILDREN vol.58, pp.3, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1590/s0004-2803.202100000-56
  11. Sex-specific neurotoxic effects of heavy metal pollutants: Epidemiological, experimental evidence and candidate mechanisms vol.201, pp.None, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2021.111558
  12. Association between heavy metals, high-sensitivity C-reaction protein and 10-year risk of cardiovascular diseases among adult Korean population vol.11, pp.1, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-94158-9
  13. Association between heavy metals, high-sensitivity C-reaction protein and 10-year risk of cardiovascular diseases among adult Korean population vol.11, pp.1, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-94158-9
  14. Association of Blood Mercury Levels with the Risks of Overweight and High Waist-to-Height Ratio in Children and Adolescents: Data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey vol.8, pp.12, 2021, https://doi.org/10.3390/children8121087
  15. Influence of serum ferritin combined with blood cadmium concentrations on blood pressure and hypertension: From the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey vol.288, pp.p1, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132469