Lead is a toxic metal widely spread in the environment with bioaccumulative features that raises public health concern. Diet might be associated with blood lead concentration in children. In order to evaluate the association between dietary intake and blood lead concentration, a cross‐sectional study was conducted on 2,050 children aged 7 to 8 years residing in urban areas in Korea while assessing dietary intake by a semi‐quantitative food frequency questionnaire and blood lead concentration by the graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Children were divided into high (n=617) and low (n=1,433) lead groups using a 2 μg/dl cutoff point. In multivariate logistic regression analyses, higher intakes of vegetable protein and iron, phosphorous, potassium, zinc, folic acid and vitamin E were related to lower blood lead concentration. Blood lead concentration was associated positively with intakes of white rice, ramyun, salted vegetables, ice cream and soft drink, and negatively with mixed rice, spinach, seaweed, fruits, and white milk consumptions. These findings suggest low dietary quality may be a risk factor for high blood lead concentration in children. (Supported by a grant from the Ministry of Environment, Korea in 2006)

There has been a notable promotion of fish consumption based on the importance of fish as a part of a healthy diet. However, the balance between health benefits and risks, due to the intake of chemical contaminants, is not well characterized. In the present study, we analyzed data on blood mercury level and dietary intakes of 1,983 urban children aged 7 to 8 year in Korea. Dietary intakes were assessed by a semi‐quantitative food frequency questionnaire and blood mercury level was analyzed by the cold vapor generation method. A cut of point of 2μ/L of blood mercury level was used to categorize children into high (n = 934) and low (n = 1,049) groups. After adjusting for possible confounding variables, intakes of animal iron, zinc, and n3‐fatty acids were positively associated with high blood mercury level. In food group analyses, more frequent consumptions of white and blue fishes, shell fishes, processed and fermented fishes were observed in the high mercury group than the low mercury group. These results showed blood mercury level is strongly associated with fish consumption independent of type of fish. (Supported by a grant from the Ministry of Environment, Korea in 2006)