In this study, we analyzed the blood cadmium concentration in general population of Korea, and followed the analyses the relations with epidemiologic factors, life-style and body iron store. The geometric mean concentration of blood cadmium was 1.20 ㎍/L in study subject. the level of blood cadmium was higher in female (1.27 ㎍/L) than in male (1.11 ㎍/L). The mean concentration of blood cadmium was the highest in coastal area (1.80 ㎍/L) and followed in urban (1.01 ㎍/L) and rural area (0.90 ㎍/L). The cadmium concentration in whole blood was increased with age-dependent pattern, such as 0.64 ㎍/L in the below 30 years, 0.95 ㎍/L in the 30~44 years, 1.28 ㎍/L in the 45~59 years and 1.31 ㎍/L in the over 60 years. The level of blood cadmium was higher in smokers than in non-smokers, but was not significant by alcoholic habit The blood cadmium level was different from occupations, which was the highest in the fishers as 1.87 ㎍/L. The inversed relation was observed between blood cadmium and serum Fe, while was correlated positively with the ferritin level. In summary, the environmental exposure to cadmium in Korean is not so much compared to other countries, and the blood cadmium is influenced by genetic factors (age and sex), life-styles (dietary habit, occupation and smoking habit) and nutrition such as serum iron.
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