To implement the globally harmonized system of classification and labelling of chemicals (GHS) in Korea, an inter-ministerial GHS committee, involving 8 ministries and an expert working group composed of 9 experts from relevant organizations and one private consultant, have made some progress towards implementation by 2008. As such, the first revision of the official Korean translated version of the GHS in accordance with the GHS purple book revision 1 in 2005, including annexes, started in August, 2006, was completed in December, 2006. The Ministry of Labor also finally revised the Industrial Safety and Health Act (ISHA) relating to the GHS and the detailed notification was announced on Dec 12, 2006 and became effective immediately. The revised ISHA will allow continued use of the existing hazard communication system until Jun 30, 2008. Other revisions of chemical-related regulations will follow soon to facilitate the implementation of the GHS by 2008. Besides, inter-ministerial collaborative efforts on harmonizing regulations and disseminating the GHS in Korea will continue to avoid any confusion or duplication and for the effective use of resources.

In order to determine the residual characteristics of pesticides in fruits and their effects on human health, monitoring of pesticide residues were conducted in apples, peaches, pears, grapes and citrus from the major cultivation areas in 2010. Safeties of the pesticides detected from the fruits were evaluated using the amounts of pesticide residue detected and dietary risk index (DRI). Samples were taken from 4-5 major fruit cultivation areas and then pesticide residues in the test fruits were analyzed with a liquid chromatographymass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Mean residue levels of the pesticides in fruits were 0.001-0.144 mg/kg. The DRIs were 0.55 for apple, 0.066 for peach, 0.008 for pear, 0.025 for grape, and 0.37 for citrus, respectively. The results indicated that the amounts of pesticide residues in domestic fruits might be safe, considering the regulatory concerning level 1.0 Key words

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