• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.2089-2099
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• 2015

This study examined the relationships between the blood heavy metal (Pb, Hg and Cd) concentration and exposure-related factors. The subjects were 2,042 (male: 953, female: 1,089) who were recruited through a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Differences in the concentrations of mercury were observed in males, whereas females showed differences in lead and cadmium. Analyses of the blood concentrations according to body mass index and waist circumference showed significantly higher concentrations of mercury. In males, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol of dyslipidemia was higher than normal in the blood lead concentration. In females, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol of dyslipidemia was higher than normal in the blood lead concentration. The blood lead and cadmium concentrations of male smokers was higher than non-smokers, and cadmium showed the same results in females. The blood lead levels were higher in male alcohol consumers than non-drinkers. The blood concentrations of mercury and cadmium showed significant differences according to household income. Blood concentrations of heavy metals were closely related to exposure-related factors, and age, smoking, drinking alcohols, obesity, hyperlipidemia, and household income were found to be relevant.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.180-183
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• 2007

Over the last century the mercury (Hg) concentration in the environment has been increased by human activities with inputs from sources such as atmospheric deposition, urban runoff, and industrial effluents. Mercury can be transformed to methylmercury (MeHg) in anaerobic conditions by sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) and sediments are the principal location for MeHg production in aquatic environments. Interest in bioaccumulation of Hg and MeHg into lower trophic levels of benthic and pelagic organisms stems from public health concerns as these organisms provide essential links for higher trophic levels of food chains such as fish and larger invertebrates. Fish consumption is the major exposure route of MeHg to humans. Recently, it was reported that blood samples in Korea showed much higher Hg levels (5-8 times) than those in USA and Germany. Although this brings much attention to Hg research in Korea, there are very few studies on Hg biogeochemical cycling and bioaccumulation in aquatic environments. Given the importance of Hg methylation and MeHg transfer through food chains in aquatic environments, it is imperative that studies should be done in much detail looking at the fate, transport, and bioaccumulation of Hg and MeHg in the environment. Moreover, there should be long-term monitoring plans in Korea to evaluate the environmental and health effects of Hg and MeHg.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.368-375
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• 2020

Objectives: Some animal studies have reported that methyl mercury causes developmental toxicities such as placental and fetal weight loss, but the mechanism is still unclear. This study aimed to investigate the developmental toxicities of methyl mercury, focusing on placental endocrine function and fetal growth retardation in rats. Methods: Positively same-time-mated female Sprague-Dawley rats were purchased on gestational day (GD) eight and treated with 0, 5, 10 and 20 ppm of methyl mercury (n=5) dissolved in tap water from GD eight through 19. During treatment, the drinking water (methyl mercury) intake and body weight of each pregnant rat was measured daily. On day 19, caesarean sections were performed and blood samples were collected. Developmental data such as placental and fetal weights, fetus numbers, and placental efficiency (fetal weight/placental weight) were also collected. Placental prolactin-growth hormone (PRL-GH) family, such as placental lactogen (PL) -Iv, II, and prolactin-like protein (PLP) -B, levels in serum were analyzed by ELISA. Also, placental tissues were assigned to histochemistry. Results: The mean cumulative methyl mercury exposure for the 5, 10, and 20 ppm groups were 2.37, 4.63, and 9.66 mg, respectively. The mean daily exposure of the 5, 10, and 20 ppm groups were 0.24, 0.47, and 0.97 mg, respectively. Maternal body weight increased in accordance with GD. There was no significant difference in weight gain among the experimental groups. Histopathologic changes were not observed in placental tissues among the experimental groups. However, mean placental and fetal weights were lower in the 10 and 20 ppm exposed groups compared to the control. Placental efficiency was also lower in the 10 and 20 ppm exposed groups compared to the control. Serum PL-Iv and II levels were lower in the 10 and 20 ppm exposed groups than the control, in accordance with the changing pattern of placental and fetal weights and placental efficiency. Conclusion: The inhibitory effects of methyl mercury on the serum levels of placental PRL-GH family such as PL-Iv and II may be secondary leads to the reduction of placental efficiency and fetal growth retardation in rats.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.541-555
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• 2019

Objectives: The aim of this study is to examine heavy metal exposure levels in the blood and urine of a nationally representative adult population in Korea, and to identify the major influence factors for exposure through linkage analysis using questionnaire data. Methods: Biological samples and questionnaire data were collected from adults aged 18 and over who had participated in the Korean National Environmental Health Survey from 2009 to 2017. Lead, mercury, and cadmium exposure levels were presented with geometric mean and 95th percentiles. Multiple regression analysis was performed to determine the factors affecting heavy metal concentrations. Results: Blood lead levels increased slightly in Cycle 2 compared to Cycle 1, but decreased in Cycle 3. Blood and urinary mercury and urinary cadmium levels decreased over time. The main influence factors included gender, age, and smoking status for blood lead levels; gender, age, and intake of fish at least once a week for blood mercury levels; and age for urinary cadmium levels. Conclusion: The Korean National Environmental Health Survey is an effective tool for confirming over-time changes in exposure to lead, mercury, and cadmium in Korean adults and to identify its influence factors. The results of this study are expected to present basic data for calculating reference values and baseline exposure levels for environmental chemicals in Korean adults.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.127-132
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• 2021

Purpose: It is known that the most common cause of gas poisoning in Korea is suicide attempts by burning ignition coals. Ignition coals are made from waste wood, and studies have been reported that heavy metals are emitted when this coal is burned. However, there was no study on how much heavy metal poisoning occurs in the human body through this, so this study was planned to find out whether the concentration of heavy metals in the blood increased in patients exposed to ignition coal combustion. Methods: From April 2020 to April 2021, blood lead, mercury, and cadmium concentrations were investigated in carbon monoxide poisoning patients who visited one regional emergency medical center in Seoul, and their association with exposure time, source of poisoning, and rhabdomyolysis were investigated. Results: During the study period, a total of 136 carbon monoxide poisoning patients were tested for heavy metals, and 81 cases of poisoning by ignition coal were reported. When comparing poisoning caused by combustion of ignition coal and other substances, there was no difference in the concentrations of lead, mercury, and cadmium in the blood, and there was no difference in the number of patients above the reference range. However, the patients exposed to more than 5 hours of ignition coal gas exposure are more frequent than those in the group less than 5 hours in lead (51.4% vs. 23.9%, p=0.012). Conclusion: Compared to poisoning with other combustible substances, the blood concentration of lead, mercury, and cadmium does not increase further in patients with gas poisoning by ignition coal. However, prolonged exposure may result in elevated levels of lead.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.348-357
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• 2011

Objectives: This study was conducted in order to examine the relationship between heavy metal concentrations in the soil and the level of heavy metals in the blood or urine of 216 local residents living near abandoned metal mines. Methods: Residents around abandoned metal mines were interviewed about their dietary habits, including seafood consumption, medical history, cigarette smoking, and drug history. Metal concentrations in the soil were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AA-7000, Shimadzu, Japan). Lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) contents in the blood or urine were analyzed by GF-AAS (AA-6800, Shimadzu). Mercury (Hg) contents in the blood were determined by means of a mercury analyzer (SP-3DS, NIC). Arsenic (As) content in the soil and urine were measured by a HG-AAS (hydride vapor generation-atomic absorption spectrophotometer). Results: The heavy metal concentrations in the soil showed a log normal distribution and the geometric means of the four villages were 8.61 mg/kg for Pb, 0.19 mg/kg for Cd, 1.81 mg/kg for As and 0.035 mg/kg for Hg. The heavy metal levels of the 216 local residents showed a regular distribution for Pb, Cd, Hg in the blood and As in the urine. The arithmetic means were 3.37 ${\mu}g$/dl for Pb, 3.07 ${\mu}g$/l for Cd and 2.32 ${\mu}g$/l for Hg, 10.41 ${\mu}g$/l for As, respectively. Conclusions: As a result of multi-variate analysis for the affecting factors on the bodily heavy metal concentrations, gender and concentration in the soil (each, p<0.01) for blood lead levels; gender and smoking status (each, p<0.01) for blood cadmium levels; gender (p<0.01) for urine arsenic levels; gender, age and concentration in the soil (p<0.01) for blood mercury levels were shown to be the affecting factors.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.94-103
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• 1996

Background : Blood pressure is an important indicator in diagnosis and assessing treatment of a patient. Clinical staffs use blood pressure on the assumption that measured value is accurate and reliable. However, whether measured blood pressure is accurate has been rarely investigated in Korea. Objectives : The aims of this study are to evaluate clinical staffs' knowledge and technique as well as accuracy of sphygmomanometer. Also the program to improve the measurement is developed. Methods : Seventy-three registered nurses were asked nine multiple choice questions including Korotkoff sound, cuff size, and deflation rate. Simultaneously characteristics of nurses were examined, age, working place, duration of employment and academic degree. A testing videotape(Standardizing Measurement Video-Tutored Course) was used for evaluating the accuracy of measurement. Testees were to read and record the 12 cases of blood pressure measurement, watching a falling mercury column and hearing Korotkoff sounds. After 10 minutes' education, they were again tested with the same cases. Additionally, 83 mercury sphygmomanometers were checked to find defects such as inaccurate calibration and zero setting, leaky bladder, etc. Results: For the knowledge testing correct response rate was 41.1%. They were the lowest in selecting the proper cuff size and Korotkoff sound. In examining accuracy of blood pressure with videotape, nurses had 67.7% correct response rate. The correct response rate was significantly improved by a session of education. About 23% of sphygmomanometers was without discernable defects. Conclusion : The knowledge and skill of clinical staffs along with the accuracy of equipment have to be improved. A properly designed education program would contribute to the accuracy improvement of blood pressure measurement. Also, more concerns should be given to the precision and maintenance of equipment.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.267-275
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• 2020

Objectives: The causes of dementia have been reported in various ways, but there has been little research on the interrelationship between heavy metals and dementia, and the results also show little consistency. Therefore, it is imperative to compare the levels of heavy metal exposure between the dementia-suffering group and a control group to confirm the correlation between the level of heavy metal exposure and the likelihood of dementia. Methods: In order to assess the dementia level of the elderly, the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) were applied. To analyze the concentration of heavy metals in the blood, blood was collected from the veins of study subjects and measured using Inductively Coupled Plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results: There was a statistically significant correlation between lead and manganese concentrations in the blood and the MMSE and GDS. It was found that there was a statistically significant correlation between cadmium concentration in the blood and the GDS, but the MMSE was less relevant. It was found that the blood mercury concentration and the MMSE and GDS were less relevant. The lead concentration in the blood was 0.95±0.74 ㎍/dL in the dementia patient group and 0.33±0.22 ㎍/dL in the normal group, while cadmium was 0.69±0.37 ㎍/L in the dementia group and 0.18±0.10 ㎍/L in the normal group. Mercury was 0.81±0.31 ㎍/L in the dementia group and 1.16±0.80 ㎍/L in the normal group. Manganese was 6.83±2.01 ㎍/L in the dementia group and 4.78±1.59 ㎍/L in the normal group. All of these show statistically significant differences. Conclusions: As the concentration of lead, cadmium and manganese in the blood increases, the MMSE scores and GDS scores were found to worsen, and it was confirmed that there is a correlation between heavy metal exposure and cognitive degradation.

• Proceedings of the Korea Air Pollution Research Association Conference
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.417-418
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• 2008

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Toocicology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.166-168
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• 2003