Lead concentrations in blood among the general population of Korea

The purpose of this survey was to obtain information on the overall blood lead concentrations of the Korean population due to environmental exposure. Five hundred and twenty-five Korean adults from four provinces who had no previous occupational exposure to lead were chosen by random sampling to represent the general (normal) population. Blood lead determinations were performed by atomic absorption spectrometry with a graphite furnace. Interlaboratory quality control for analysis of blood lead was carried out in seven laboratories in Korea and Europe. The geometric mean were 6.36 micrograms/dl for males and 5.09 micrograms/dl for females. There was no correlation between blood lead concentration and age. The mean concentration of blood lead in smokers was higher than that in nonsmokers (P < 0.0005). The mean blood lead concentration in male nonsmokers was higher than that in female nonsmokers (P < 0.0005). Differences in mean blood lead values according to residential area were observed, and this result showed good agreement with the results of ambient monitoring.