Abstract
The Korean National Environmental Health Survey (KoNEHS) program provides useful information on chemical exposure, serves as the basis for environmental health policies, and suggests appropriate measures to protect public health. Initiated on a three-year cycle in 2009, it reports the concentrations of major environmental chemicals among the representative Korean population. KoNEHS Cycle 3 introduced children and adolescents into the analysis, where the blood and urine samples of 6167 participants were measured for major metals, phthalates, phenolics, and other organic compounds. Lead, mercury, cadmium, metabolites of DEHP and DnBP, and 3-phenoxybenzoic acid levels of the Korean adult population tended to decrease compared to previous survey cycles but remained higher than those observed in the US or Canada. Both bisphenol A (BPA) and trans,trans-muconic acid concentrations have increased over time. Heavy metal concentrations (blood lead, and cadmium) in children and adolescents were approximately half that of adults, while some organic substances (e.g., phthalates and BPA) were high. BPA showed higher levels than in the US or Canada, whereas BPF and BPS showed lower detection rates in this cycle; however, as these are increasingly used as a substitute for BPA, further research is necessary. As environmental chemicals may affect childhood health and development, additional analyses should assess exposure sources and routes through continuous observations.
Highlights
Children and adolescents were recruited through educational institutions; the gender ratios of the final participants were maintained by adjusting for age and gender when recruiting
Comparisons were made between the results of Korean National Environmental Health Survey (KoNEHS) Cycle 3 (2015–2017), the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES, 2015–2016), and the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS, 2016–2017; Table S2)
In Korean children and adolescents, concentrations of mercury and cadmium were higher than in other countries. These levels are not of great concern when compared with Human Biomonitoring Commission recommendations, continuous observations are required to ensure they are not deleteriously affecting children’s growth, development, or health
Summary
Human biomonitoring is an important tool for assessing internal exposure to environmental chemicals. Its history extends back to the 1890s, when exposure levels among occupational workers were measured in the workplace [1]. Different studies have reported exposure to numerous substances through various pathways, outlining the utility of biomonitoring in environmental health management [2,3,4,5]. Several countries, including the United States, Canada, and Germany, have implemented national biomonitoring programs (NBPs) to inform the development of environmental health policies [4,6,7]. NBPs can generate exposure profiles of major environmental chemicals among
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