LEAD CONCENTRATIONS IN BLOOD AMONG THE GENERAL-POPULATION OF KOREA

The purpose of this survey was to obtain information on the overall bl ood lead concentrations of the Korean population due to environmental exposure. Five hundred and twenty-five Korean adults from four provinc es who had no previous occupational exposure to lead were chosen by ra ndom 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 bl ood lead was carried out in seven laboratories in Korea and Europe. Th e geometric mean were 6.36 mu g/dl for males and 5.09 mu g/dl for fema les. 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). Di fferences in mean blood lead values according to residential area were observed, and this result showed good agreement with the results of a mbient monitoring.