BACKGROUND: This study was to carry out risk assessment of contamination of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and inorganic arsenic (I-As) in agricultural products of 25 crops from the abandoned mine areas. The 36 typical investigation sites located in Gyeongbuk provincial area were selected by considering the heavy metal levels, that had been known that the amount of the heavy metals exceeded the contamination level based on the previous survey. METHODS AND RESULTS: Cadmium, lead, and total arsenic (T-As) concentrations were determined using microwave device and ICP-MS. Inorganic arsenic was determined by HPLC-ICP-MS. The limits of quantification for heavy metals were 0.59 μg/kg for Cd, 0.42 μg/kg for Pb, 0.55 μg/kg for T-As, and sum of As (Ⅲ) (1.74 μg/kg) and As (Ⅴ) (2.25 μg/kg) for I-As, respectively. The contents of Cd, Pb, and I-As (only rice) were N.D.-0.958 mg/kg, N.D.-0.227 mg/kg, and 0.082 mg/kg, respectively, in the agricultural products. For risk assessment, dietary exposures of heavy metals through usual intake were 5.20×10-4-7.15×10 0 μg/day for Cd, 7.00×10-5-7.75×10-1 μg/day for Pb, and 1.17×10 1 μg/day for I-As, taking 0.01-14.37%, 0.01-2.05%, and 15.16% as risk indices, respectively. CONCLUSION: It requires to consider the critical levels of heavy metals in agricultural products due to unexpectedly high levels in a few places, while concentrations of heavy metals in the samples were relatively low in most areas.

BACKGROUND: Rice is one of the main sources for inorganic arsenic among the consumed crops in the world population's diet. Arsenic is classified into Group 1 as it is carcinogenic for humans, according to the IARC. This study was carried out to assess dietary exposure risk of inorganic arsenic in husked rice and polished rice to the Korean population health. METHODS AND RESULTS: Total arsenic was determined using microwave device and ICP-MS. Inorganic arsenic was determined by ICP-MS coupled with HPLC system. The HPLC-ICP-MS analysis was optimized based on the limit of detection, limit of quantitation, and recovery ratio to be 0.73-1.24 μg/kg, 2.41-4.09 μg/kg, and 96.5-98.9%, respectively. The inorganic arsenic concentrations of daily exposure (included in body weight) were 4.97×10-3 (≥20 years old)-1.36×10-2 (≤2 years old) μg/kg b.w./day (PTWI 0.23-0.63%) by the husked rice, and 1.39×10-1 (≥ 20 years old)-3.21×10-1 (≤2 years old) μg/kg b.w./day (PTWI 6.47-15.00%) by the polished rice. CONCLUSION: The levels of overall exposure to total and inorganic arsenic by the husked and polished rice were far lower than the recommended levels of The Joint FAO/ WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), indicating of little possibility of risk.