Urinary concentrations of acrylamide (AA) and N-acetyl-S-(2-carbamoylethyl)-cysteine (AAMA) and associations with demographic factors in the South Korean population.

Acrylamide (AA) and N-acetyl-S-(2-carbamoylethyl)-cysteine (AAMA) are important urinary biomarkers of acrylamide exposure in human biomonitoring, because AA is classified as a probable carcinogen in humans. In this study, urinary AA and AAMA were assessed in the South Korean adult population aged 18-69, based on the Korean National Human Biomonitoring Survey conducted in 2009. Urinary metabolites in samples were analyzed with LC-MS/MS system. Relying on data from 1873 representative South Korean adults, the population-weighted geometric means of urinary AA and AAMA concentrations were 6.8 ng/ml (95% CI: 6.4-7.3), and 30.0 ng/ml (95% confidence interval (CI): 28.2-31.8), respectively. The creatinine-adjusted geometric means of AA and AAMA were 6.2 µg/g creatinine (95% CI: 5.8-6.7) and 26.4µg/g creatinine (95% CI: 24.9-28.0), respectively. When covariates for predictors of urinary metabolites were adjusted simultaneously in a log-linear multiple regressions, the strongest predictors of urinary AA were education (OR=1.08-1.28; 95% CI: 1.11-1.48; p=0.0024) and age (OR=0.66-0.84; 95% CI: 0.54-0.97; p=0.0003), and those of urinary AAMA were smoking status (OR=1.16-2.63; 95% CI: 0.98-3.08; p=0.001) and education (OR=1.12-1.19; 95% CI: 1.02-1.38; p=0.0425). The ratio of current/never smokers for urinary AA was 1.3, whereas the same ratio for urinary AAMA was 3.0. These findings suggested that most South Koreans had detectable levels of AA and AAMA (98.7% and 99.4%, respectively) in their urine and that the body burden of AA and AAMA varied according to demographic, geographic, and lifestyle (smoking) factors.

Korea National Survey for Environmental Pollutants in the human body 2008: 1-hydroxypyrene, 2-naphthol, and cotinine in urine of the Korean population.

The Korea National Survey for Environmental Pollutants in the human body conducts representative Korean population studies, which were first initiated in 2005 in Korea. This study was conducted from 2008 to 2009 to determine the exposure levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nicotine in the Korean general population. The study population consisted of 4702 adult subjects from 196 sampling locations including coastal, rural, and urban areas. The urinary levels of 1-hydroxypyrene, 2-naphthol, and cotinine were measured for exposure of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nicotine. The geometric means of the urinary 1-hydroxypyrene, 2-naphthol and cotinine concentrations in the Korean general population were 0.15 µg/L (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.13-0.17), 3.84 µg/L (95% CI: 3.57-4.11) and 47.42 µg/L (95% CI: 40.52-54.32) respectively. When these values were compared with reference ranges for the United States and Germany, the levels of 1-hydroxypyrene, 2-naphthol, and cotinine were very similar for Korea and Germany, however, these levels were slightly lower in the United States. This study is the first nationwide survey of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nicotine in Korea and provides a background reference range for exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nicotine in the Korean general population.

Korea National Survey for Environmental Pollutants in the Human Body 2008: heavy metals in the blood or urine of the Korean population.

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. OBJECTIVES: 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.