• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.3-12
• /
• 1980

Certain heavy metals which may lead peoples to poisonous status are widely used in industry and their uses have been increasing along with rapid industrialization of this country. Such an increasement of metal uses aggravates the status of environmental pollution affecting foodstuffs which are the most important life supporting factor of animal and humanbeing. Concerning the safety measures to minimize food-borne transmission of such hazardous metals, surveillance is the backbone of them and probably more so with a potential problem such as intoxication. Theoretically, this surveillance should include the determination of levels of heavy metal toxicants in foods, the determination of food consumption patterns and typical total diet, and the estimation of total load of the metal contaminant from all sources of exposure including air, water, and occupational sources. In recent year, actually, such estimates on the total daily intake of some heavy metals from foods have been made in several developed countries and a wide variation of date by season, locality, and research method was recognized. Also in this country, this kind of research data is vitally needed to make up for the serious shortage or lack of references to estimate the total amount of heavy metal intake of the people. In this study, a modification model for estimation of the total daily intake of cadmium copper, nickel, zinc, and lead through foods was applied and concentrations of the above metals in crops cultivated in this country were measured with atomic absorption spectro photometer to get the following results. 1. Level of heavy metal concentration in crops Generally, the levels of such metals in essential crops such as rice, cucumber, radish. chinese cabbage, apple, pear, grape, and orange are similar or lower than those in Japan and other developed countries. By the way, a striking result on cadmium concentration was increasement of its concentration in rice from $0{\sim}0.035ppm$ in 1970 to 0.11ppm in this study. However, the value is still far below the. Japanese Permissible Lebel of 1.0ppm. 2. Estimation of total daily intake per capita from foods A new model for estimation was devised utilizing levels of metal concentration in foods, amount of food consumed, and other food factors. Based on the above method, the daily intake of cadmium was estimated to be $70.53{\mu}g/man/day$ in average which was as high as the Limit Value of ILO/WHO(up to $71.4{\mu}g/man/day$). Also, 3.89mg of Zinc, 1.65mg of cuppor, 0.32mg of lead were given as the total daily intake per capita by this research. 3. Efficacy of washing or skinning to decrease the amount of metals in crops After washing the crops sufficiently with commercial linear alkylate sulfonate, the concentration of heavy metals could be reduced to $50{\sim}80%$ showing decreasement rate of $20{\sim}50%$. Also, after skinning the fruits, decreasement rate of the heavy metal concentration shelved $0{\sim}50%$.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.325-333
• /
• 2019

The present study was carried out to identify the distribution characteristics of heavy metals in ginseng and wood-cultivated ginseng reduction of dietary exposure. Samples of ginseng and wood-cultivated ginseng were collected from 14 and 5 regions across Korea, respectively. Lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (Ar) were detected by ICP-MS after microwave digestion, whereas aluminum (Al) was determined using ICP. Cultivated ginseng peels were 16.2% of whole root, while the peels and fine roots amounted to 21.8% and 16.8% of whole wood-cultivated ginseng, respectively. Taking into account the weight and concentration of the heavy metals by root part, their distribution ratios were calculated and compared. The cultivated ginseng peels contained 40.3% Pb, 25.9% Cd, 47.6% As, and 89.9% Al. Meanwhile, heavy metals consisting of 27.2% Pb, 28.2% Cd, 48.3% As, and 56.8% Al were distributed in the peels of the wood-cultivated ginseng. There was no significant difference between the peels and fine roots of the wood-cultivated ginseng with respect to the distribution proportion of heavy metals, except for Al. These results indicate that the level of dietary exposure to heavy metals could be reduced by peeling ginseng and wood-cultivated ginseng prior to consumption.

• Analytical Science and Technology
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.114-125
• /
• 2016

In this study, 165 wastewater discharge facilities in 10 business types were investigated with regard to 24 specific hazardous substances that included heavy metals, VOCs, CN, and phenol in the Gwangju city. Cu in the range from from 0.008 to 35.420 mg/L was detected in all business types and the detection rate was 46.8 %. Other heavy metals, such as Cd, As, Hg, Pb, and Cr⁺⁶ were detected as well. However, their detection rates ranged between 0.6 and 1.8 %. CN and phenol were detected in one and five facilities, respectively. 12 species of VOCs were detected: chloroform 80.6 % (0.42 to 81.60 μg/L), benzene 16.4 % (1.49 to 3.31 μg/L), trichloroethylene 11.5 % (1.78 to 6.02 μg/L), 1,1-dichloroethylene 10.3 % (1.23 to 5.89 μg/L), and dichloromethane 8.5 % (0.28 to 968.86 μg/L) in the detection rate order. The concentration of VOCs was detected in trace amounts, except for dichloromethane that exceeded the effluent quality standard in three business types, namely, metal manufacturing, food industry, and car washing facility. Chloroform was detected in all business types, where 24.88 μg/L were detected in the laundry business and 53.41 μg/L in the water supply business; the mean concentration of chloroform in these two business types was higher than elsewhere. Therefore, for the disposal of non-degradable specific hazardous substances in industrial wastewater, it is necessary to introduce physical and chemical processes, such as activated carbon adsorption, fenton oxidation, ozone treatment, as well as photocatalyst and the UV radiation.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.255-261
• /
• 2007

To obtain the risk assessment of hazardous materials with maturing process of Rehmanniae Radix Preparata, the residual heavy metals and pesticides in samples are surveyed. Concentration of As, Cd and Pb during the maturing process of Rehmanniae Radix Preparata of Korea are $0.147{\pm}0.007\;mg/L,\;0.025{\pm}0.001\;mg/L\;and\;0.193{\pm}0.021\;mg/L$, respectively. Concentration of As, Cd and Pb during the maturing process of Rehmanniae Radix Preparat of China are $0.0145{\pm}0.014\;mg/L,\;0.023{\pm}0.002\;mg/L\;and\;0.299{\pm}0.013\;mg/L$, respectively. Concentration of As, Cd and Hg remain unchanged during the maturing process of Rehmanniae Radix Preparata. Concentration of As, Cd and Pb in Rehmanniae Radix Preparat on the Korea are 3.53%, 6.66% and 5.16% for Korea Food & Drug Administration (KFDA) advisory level, respectively. The residual pesticides, such as aldrin, $BHC-{\alpha},\;BHC-{\beta},\;BHC-{\gamma},\;BHC-{\delta}$, captan, chlorfenapyr, chlorpyrifos, DDD, DDE, DDT-o,p, DDT-p.p, dieldrin, endosulfan-sulfate, $endosulfan-{\alpha}$, $endosulfan-{\beta}$, fenitrothion, penthoate, permethrin, quintozene, tolyfluanid and vinclozolin, are not detected in Rehmanniae Radix Preparat on the Korea and China. The hazardous materials in Rehmanniae Radix Preparata on the Korea and China are verified the safety of the residual heavy metals and pesticides compare with Korea Food & Drug Administration (KFDA) advistory level.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.853-859
• /
• 2009

Endometriosis becomes the most common cause of pelvic pain and infertility women. The cause of endometriosis has ever been entirely proven. However, an increased use of commercial feminine hygiene products such as tampons and sanitary napkins was considered one of the major affect. Harmful substances in feminine hygiene products was analyzed and evaluated. Samples of commercial products obtained from Korea, Japan, America, Germany, and China were analyzed for six hazardous inorganic elements (chromium, cobalt, nickel, copper, cadmium and lead). In the extractable heavy metals of napkins, Cr, Ni and Cu were found in all of the samples, while Cd was detected only in two samples. In the tampons, Cr, Ni and Cu were found in all of the samples. The presence of Co and Cd was not detected in all samples The concentrations of extractable heavy metals in the tampons were lower than those in the sanitary napkins. The content of extractable heavy metals in the sanitary products was compared with the criteria of the 100 $\ddot{O}KO$ TEX Standard. It was confirmed that the level of heavy metals in the sanitary products posed no serious risk to health, based on the human-ecological criteria defined by the 100 $\ddot{O}KO$ TEX Standard.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.50 no.4
• /
• pp.318-324
• /
• 2017

Lime bordeaux mixture (LBM) and lime sulfur mixture (LSM) are representative environmental friendly organic materials for prevention of insect pests in South Korea. Recently, those have been widely used as an alternative for chemical pesticides in eco-friendly farms. However, South Korea has not established even recommendation of LBM and LSM considering the stability of heavy metals in soil. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accumulation of hazardous heavy metals in soil and plant with long-term application of LBM and LSM. Firstly, we investigated the amount of LBM and LSM used per year in several eco-friendly farms to determine a standard application rate of both materials. The pepper plant was grown on the pot in greenhouse for 14 weeks. Both materials were applied at 0, 1, 3, and 9 times of standard application rates (2.56 and $1.28L\;ha^{-1}$ of LBM and LSM per year, respectively). Dry matter yield of pepper and heavy metals (As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn) concentration in soil and pepper plant were measured after 14 weeks. Yield of pepper plant did not significantly chang with up to application rate of 1 times, thereafter it markedly decreased with more than 3 times. With increasing LBM and LSM application, the concentration of Cu and Zn in soil significantly increased. Especially, Zn concentration in pepper significantly increased with increasing application rates of both materials. This might resulted in significant decrease in dry matter yield of pepper. The concentrations of those heavy metals in soil did not exceed safety levels ($150mg\;kg^{-1}$ for Cu and $300mg\;kg^{-1}$ for Zn) established by the Korean Soil Environmental Conservation Act as well as concentration of heavy metals in pepper plant by Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. However, particular attention should be paid for heavy metal safety and crop productivity when using LBM and LSM in the organic farm.

• Journal of Environmental Analysis, Health and Toxicology
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.281-291
• /
• 2018

Recently, long-range atmospheric transport (LRAT) from China is regarded as a major reason for elevated levels of particulate matter (PM) in Korea. However, local emissions also play an important role in PM pollution, especially in large-scale industrial cities. In this study, PM samples were collected at suburban, residential, and industrial sites in Ulsan, Korea. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals were analyzed, and a potential human health risk assessment was conducted. The concentrations of PAHs and heavy metals in total suspended particles (TSP) increased during high $PM_{10}$ episodes, and backward trajectory analysis verified the influence of LRAT from China during the high episodes. Furthermore, the concentrations of PAHs and heavy metals in $PM_{2.5}$ and $PM_{10}$ at the industrial site were higher than those at the residential site. The risk assessment of PAHs and heavy metals in $PM_{2.5}$ suggested no significant health effects. The highest levels of PAHs were measured in the particle size of $0.32{\sim}0.56{\mu}m$ at the residential site, and those of heavy metals were detected in the particle size of 1.8~5.6 and $>18{\mu}m$, reflecting different major emissions sources for both groups. On the basis of this preliminary study, we are planning long-term monitoring and modeling studies to quantitatively evaluate the influence of industrial activities on the PM pollution in Ulsan.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.68-78
• /
• 1989

The heavy metal of suspended particulates with human health has long been studied in environmental interest concerned. This study was intended to identify harmful heavy metals of the ambient air borne dusts which were related with the respirable sizes in the aerodynamics. Two sampling sites were selected comparatively; one was in the Shinchon area, which is the commercial district with heavy traffic and the other site was in the Bulgwang area which is residential area. The supended particulates were sampled by high volume air sample with 6 cascade impactor stages. The heavy metals in terms of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, V and Zn were determined by stomic absorption spectrometry or inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry. The samples weretaken bimothly for seven consecutive days from May 1987 to March 1988. The annual average concentration of the respirable suspended dust of which diameter is less than 10$\mum$ was 152.59 $\mug/m^3$ of the Shinchon air samples; the respirable dust was equivalent to approximately 85% of the total suspended particulates. The annual average concentration of the respirable suspended dust of the Bulgwang air samples was 112.56 $\mug/m^3$; that was approximately 86% of the total suspended particulates. The concentration of heavy metals was investigated in relation to the particle size. The concentration of Cr, Fe, Mn and V were tended to be much more in the coarse particles than in the fine particles. Cd and Pb in the fine particles were more than in the coarse particles. In the partial correlation coefficients; in the Shinchon area, high correlations among Fe, Se and Mn were determined; it is assumed that those sources would be originated from coal, gasolineand diesel. In Bulgwang area, would be high correlation among Fe, Se, Hg and Mn considered to be originated from coal, Bunker-C and heavy oil as well. From the above results, the hazardous heavy merals in air should be measured and controlled in originally their sources.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
• /
• v.22 no.2 s.57
• /
• pp.171-175
• /
• 2007

Indigenous species means a species that is likely, due to historical presence, to occur at a specified site for some portion of its life span. Therefore, indigenous species can be useful as an indicator to assess environmental risk caused by hazardous chemicals in a specific site. So far a few toxicity studies using freshwater species which are indigenous to Korea have been carried out. In this study, a freshwater shrimp (Neocardina denticulata) indigenous to Korea was used for acute toxicity test of heavy metals. Neocardina denticulata were exposed to cadmium chloride $(CdCl_2)$, copper chloride $(CuCl_2)$ and zinc chloride $(ZnCl_2)$ using automatic flow-through system for 96 hours. The 96h LC50s were calculated as 0.043 $(0.042{\sim}0.045)mg\;CdCl_2/L,\;0.104(0.098{\sim}0.113)mg\; CuCl_2/L\;and\;2.021\;(1.633{\sim}2.594)mg\;ZnCl_2/L$. When compaired with some international standard species such as medaka(Oryzias latipes), Neocardina denticulata had high sensitivity. Therefore, this study suggested that Neocardina denticulata have possibilities for a sensitive test species to test heavy metal toxicity in aqua-system.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
• /
• v.53 no.5
• /
• pp.274-280
• /
• 2009

To survey the status of quality control of major ingredients of 'Ssanghwatang (Oriental medicine used for fatigue)', we analyzed 1,024 samples (9 kinds) of medical herbs to determine amounts of ashes, acid-insoluble ashes, loss on drying that are major elements to ensure basic quality of herbal drugstuffs. After ash analysis, Paeoniae Radix (from China) failed to meet the herbal standard criterion. After yielding Z-score(indicating the probability of exceeding its criterion) Zizyphi Fructus, Zingiberis Rhizoma, Paeoniae Radix, Rehmanniae Radix Preparata became objects of intense quality control (=IQC). Analysis on loss on drying shows Cinnamomi Cortex was unsuitable and was put under the IQC. In case of respective heavy metals, Angelicae Gigantis Radix, Cnidii Rhizoma, Cinnamomi Cortex exceeded the maximum permissible range for Cd. The 3 kinds of sub-standards were put to the IQC. Statistic figures showed a significant correlation (t-test, p<0.01) between country-of-origin and sub-quality rates. Compared to domestic one, imported medicinal herbs were less suitable in regard of acid-insoluble ash, loss on drying and Pb/Hg content. Meanwhile, amounts of Acid-insoluble ash showed positive relation with amounts of Pb (r=0.202) and As (r=0.243) among heavy metals leading to an inference that herbs of which root/rhizome is used for medical purposes attribute its high heavy metal content to the fine earth/sand being stuck to its root stalk.