Development of General Exposure Factors for Risk Assessment in Korean Children.

Hyojung Yoon,Wonho Yang,Jungkwan Seo,Taksoo Kim,Pyeongsoon Kim,Jung Heo,Sun-Kyoung Yoo,Pil-Je Kim,Jinhyeon Park

doi:10.3390/ijerph17061988

Abstract

There has been an increasing need for the risk assessment of external environmental hazards in children because they are more sensitive to hazardous chemical exposure than adults. Therefore, the development of general exposure factors is required for appropriate risk assessment in Korean children. This study aimed to determine the general exposure factors among Korean children aged ≤18 years. We developed the recommended exposure factors across five categories: physiological variables, inhalation rates, food and drinking water intake, time–activity patterns, and soil and dust ingestion. National databases were used, and direct measurements and questionnaire surveys of representative samples were performed to calculate the inhalation rate, water intake, and soil ingestion rate. With regard to the time–activity patterns, the daily inhalation rates ranged from 9.49 m3/day for children aged 0–2 years to 14.98 m3/day for those aged 16–18 years. This study found that Korean children spent an average of 22.64 h indoors, 0.63 h outdoors, and 0.73 h in-transit on weekdays. The general exposure factors of Korean children were studied for the first time, and these results could be used to assess children’s exposure and risk. They also suggest the differences compared with the results of international results.

Highlights

Assessment of exposure to environmental pollutants requires a wide range of exposure factors to evaluate air, food, and water intakes and frequency and duration of exposure, together with their concentrations in air, water, food, and soil [1]
Children’s body weight is proportional to the inhalation rates and Body surface area (BSA), which may result in differences in the body burden of chemicals even when identical amounts are absorbed in their bodies
The difference in age grouping among countries restricts the direct comparison of body weights across all ages, we identified that the average body weight of Korean children aged 16–18 years is 62.4 kg (67.3 kg for boys and 56.8 kg for girls)

Summary

Introduction

Assessment of exposure to environmental pollutants requires a wide range of exposure factors to evaluate air, food, and water intakes and frequency and duration of exposure, together with their concentrations in air, water, food, and soil [1]. Since individual exposure to hazardous substances may significantly vary depending on the exposure factors related to human behaviors and characteristics, a number of aspects should be considered for accurate exposure estimation. Children are more likely to be exposed to environmental pollutants because their inhalation rates and food/water intakes per body weight are higher than those of adults. According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report, children are exposed to 2.3 times more air, 4.8 times more drinking water, and 6.1 times more foods per body weight than adults [3].

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