• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.283-289
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• 2019

This study was performed to monitor the residual pesticides in agricultural products used in school foodservice in the Gwangju metropolitan area. Risk assessment was also carried out based on the amount of agricultural products consumed. A total of 320 agricultural products supplied to schools in Gwangju were analyzed from 2015 to 2017. The pre-treatment and residual pesticide analysis of these products was conducted in accordance with the second method for multi-residue analysis of pesticides in the Korean food code. The hazard index was calculated by dividing the estimated daily intake (EDI) of pesticides by the acceptable daily intake (ADI). The linearity correlation coefficient for the calibration curve was 0.9923 to 1.0000, LOD 0.004 to 0.019 mg/kg, LOQ 0.012 to 0.057 mg/kg, and recovery was 79.1 to 100.2%. Residual pesticides were detected in 18 (5.6%) of 320 agricultural products used for school foodservice, and one sample of sweet potato stem (0.3%) exceeded the maximum residual limit (MRL). The detection frequency for chili peppers and bell peppers was higher than that for other agricultural products. The frequently-detected pesticides were boscalid and acetamiprid. These results showed that residual pesticide management is needed for chili pepper, bell pepper and sweet potato stem among agricultural products supplied to schools. The hazard index of bifenthrin in sweet potato stem showed the highest (64.18%), and the other pesticides were 0.03-8.23%. These results indicated that agricultural products supplied to schools in Gwangju were safe for consumption. To minimize the intake of residual pesticides, it is necessary to not only thoroughly wash agricultural products but to also ensure the expanded supply of products that are pesticide-free.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.375-387
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• 2012

The objective of this study is investigation of contamination levels and assessment of health risk effects of heavy metals in herbal pills. 31 Items and 93 samples were obtained for this investigation from major herbal medicine producing areas, herbal markets and on-line supermarkets from Jan to Jun in 2010. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer method was conducted for the quantitative analysis of Pb, Cd and As. In addition, the mercury analyzer system was conducted for that of Hg without sample digestion. The average contents of heavy metals in samples were as follows : 0.87 mg/kg for Pb, 0.08 mg/kg for Cd, 2.87 mg/kg for As and 0.16 mg/kg for Hg, respectively. In addition, the average contents of heavy metals in different parts of plants, including cortex, fructus, herba, radix, seed, algae and others were 0.63 mg/kg, 3.94 mg/kg, 1.42 mg/kg, 1.05 mg/kg, 0.16 mg/kg, 22.31 mg/kg and 10.17 mg/kg, respectively. After the estimations of dietary exposure, the acceptable daily intake (ADI), the average daily dose (ADD), the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) and the relative hazard of heavy metals were evaluated. As the results, the relative hazards compared to PTWI in samples were below the recommended standard of JECFA as Pb 3.1%, Cd 0.9%, Hg 0.5%. Cancer risks through slope factor (SF) by Ministry of Environment Republic Korea and Environmental Protection Agency was $4.24{\times}10^{-7}$ for Pb and $3.38{\times}10^{-4}$ for As (assuming that the total arsenic content was equal to the inorganic arsenic). Based on our results, possible Pb-induced cancer risks in herbal pills according to parts used including cortex, fructus, herba, radix, seed, algae and others were $1.95{\times}10^{-7}$, $1.45{\times}10^{-6}$, $2.14{\times}10^{-7}$, $6.27{\times}10^{-7}$, $1.99{\times}10^{-8}$, $3.61{\times}10^{-7}$ and $9.64{\times}10^{-8}$, respectively. Possible As-induced cancer risks in herbal pills by parts used including cortex, fructus, herba, radix, seed, algae and others were $1.54{\times}10^{-5}$, $7.24{\times}10^{-5}$, $1.23{\times}10^{-4}$, $2.02{\times}10^{-5}$, $3.25{\times}10^{-6}$, $2.18{\times}10^{-3}$ and $5.67{\times}10^{-6}$ respectively. Taken together, these results indicate that the majority of samples except for some samples with relative high contents of heavy metals were safe.