This study analyzed boron content in commonly consumed foods by Koreans. Boron content was analyzed on 299 different foods using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. The content of boron in cereals, potatoes, starches, sugars, and confectionaries was 1.11 to 828.56 microg per 100 g. As for beans, nuts, and seeds, the content of boron in acorn starch jelly was 66.15 microg per 100 g and in soybeans 1,642.50 microg per 100 g. In fruits, records show 5.29 to 390.13 microg per 100 g. The content of boron in vegetables was 17.45 to 420.55 microg per 100 g and in mushrooms 2.97 to 526.38 microg per 100 g. As for meats, eggs, milks, and oils, it posted 1.48 to 110.01 microg per 100 g. Fishes, shellfishes, and seaweeds contained 1.20 to 6,300.83 microg per 100 g of boron. Beverages, liquors, seasonings, and processed foods posted 1.06 microg per 100 g in corn cream soup and 2,026.49 microg per 100 g in cocoa. It is suggested that the data for the analysis of boron content in foods need to be more diversified and a reliable food database needs to be compiled based on the findings of the study to accurately determine boron consumption.

The human population is mainly exposed to dioxins through the diet. The purpose of this study was to estimate the daily dietary intake of PCDDs and PCDFs in Korean adults residing in different regions. Subjects were recruited and divided into three groups according to the districts where they lived: rural (n=213), coastal (n=193), and urban district (n=187). Subjects were interviewed using a general questionnaire and 24-hour recall for dietary intake. The daily intake of dioxins was estimated through the use of the database of dioxins contents in 35 Korean foods. The average age of the subjects were 61.5 years for coastal district, 57.6 years for rural district, and 49.4 years for urban district. Daily energy intake was 1707.7 kcal for rural district, 1596.5 kcal for urban district, and 1493.8 kcal for coastal district. There was no significant difference in total food intake by regions. The intakes from fishes of coastal district, those from cereals, vegetables, meats, and seasonings of rural district, and those from sugars, pulses, eggs, seaweeds, milks, oils of urban area were higher than those of the other two districts. The daily dioxins intake of coastal district (0.70 pgTEQ/kg/day) was significantly higher than those of rural district (0.32 pgTEQ/kg/day) and urban district (0.46 pgTEQ/kg/day). The dioxins intake from cereals, pulses, vegetables, fishes of coastal district and those from eggs and milks of urban area were the highest among the districts. The daily dioxins intake was positively correlated with the intakes of meats, eggs, fishes, oils, and seasonings. Therefore, it could be concluded that the daily dioxins intake of coastal district is higher than that in other districts and the fish is one of the main sources in dioxin intakes. However, daily dioxins intakes of the three regions were below the level of tolerable daily intake (TDI).