Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

Nam Soo Kim

4 Articles

Bone and Blood Lead Levels of Middle Aged Koreans not Occupationally Exposed to Lead: Nam Soo Kim, Sung Woo Choi, Jin Ho Kim, Jung O Ham, Hae Yoon Park, Kyu Dong Ahn, Byung Kook Lee; Korean Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2007;19(4):285-292. Published online December 31, 2007; DOI: https://doi.org/10.35371/kjoem.2007.19.4.285

OBJECTIVES
In order to investigate the level and the association between bone lead and blood lead levels of non-occupationally, lead-exposed Koreans, the authors studied the lead biomarkers of 137 middle aged Koreans (86 males and 51 females) older than whose age were above 40 years.
METHODS
The tibia lead level was selected as the bone lead indicator of cortical bone, and the blood lead level was also measured. The tibia lead level was measured by K-shell XRF with 30-minute measurement of each subjects. The blood lead level was analyzed by AAS method.
RESULTS
The mean (SD) of the tibia lead level of the 137 study subjects was 3.49 (4.99) microgram/g, and tended to be higher. The mean (SD) of tibia lead level in male subjects (was 3.90 (4.88) microgram/g) and larger than in that of female subjects (2.80 (5.14) microgram/g), but without no statistical significance was observed. The mean (SD) of blood lead level of all total subjects was 3.70 (1.35)microgram/dl, and tended to be higher. The mean (SD) of blood lead level in male subjects (was 3.93 (1.25) microgram/dl) and larger than in that of female subjects (3.30 (1.42) microgram/dl), but without no statistical significance was observed. In multiple regression analysis of blood lead levels after adjusting for covariates, age was a significant independent variable. A weak association of age with tibia lead in female subjects was also observed in multiple regression analysis.
CONCLUSION
The mean (SD) of tibia and blood lead levels of middle aged Koreans whose ages were over 40 years old were 3.49 (4.99) microgram/g and 3.70 (1.35) microgram/dl, respectively. Age and sex were positive predictors of blood lead level in multiple regression analysis after controlling for the covariates. However, in multiple regression analysis whereas age was weakly association with tibia lead level only in female subjects in multiple regression analysis.

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Blood lead concentration and related factors in Korea from the 2008 National Survey for Environmental Pollutants in the Human Body
Seong Wook Jeong, Chae Kwan Lee, Chun Hui Suh, Kun Hyung Kim, Byung Chul Son, Jeong Ho Kim, Jong Tae Lee, Soo Woong Lee, Yeong Beom Park, Jong Wha Lee, Seung-Do Yu, Chan Seok Moon, Dae Hwan Kim, Sang Yoon Lee
International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health.2014; 217(8): 871. CrossRef
National estimates of blood lead, cadmium, and mercury levels in the Korean general adult population
Nam-Soo Kim, Byung-Kook Lee
International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health.2011; 84(1): 53. CrossRef

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Effect of Cumulative Blood Lead and Cumulative Blood ZPP as Lead Body Burden on Renal Lead Biomarkers: Gang Ho Yoon, Nam Soo Kim, Jin Ho Kim, Hwa Sung Kim, Byung Kook Lee; Korean Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2006;18(4):298-306. Published online December 31, 2006; DOI: https://doi.org/10.35371/kjoem.2006.18.4.298

Abstract PDF: OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the possibility of cumulative blood lead and blood ZPP as surrogates of lead body burden and to investigate their association with renal function as an index of lead body burden.
METHODS
The study subjects comprised 678 lead workers with past blood lead and blood ZPP data from their employment. Cumulative blood and ZPP were calculated by accumulating the every year mean value of both indices from the new employment since 1983. To assess the cumulative data of lead workers who started their lead work before 1983, the years before 1983 were simulated with the first available data from 1983. Study variables for lead body burden were tibia bone lead and DMSA chelatable lead, whereas those for current lead biomarkers were blood lead and blood ZPP. BUN and serum creatinine were selected as clinical renal biomarkers, while NAG (N-acetyl-D-glucosamine) and RBP (Retinol binding protein) were selected as early renal biomarkers.
RESULTS
The association between cumulative blood lead and blood ZPP with tibia bone lead was statistically significant with determinant coefficients (r(2)) of 0.72 and 0.567, respectively, and their relationships were better explained by the curvilinear regression model. In multiple regression analysis of current lead biomarkers on the renal biomarkers after controlling for possible confounders (age, sex, job duration, smoking and drinking status), blood lead was associated only with log-transformed NAG, whereas blood ZPP was associated with 3 other renal biomarkers. On the other hand, in multiple regression analysis of biomarkers of lead body burden on renal biomarkers after controlling for possible confounders (age, sex, job duration, smoking and drinking status), cumulative blood ZPP and tibia bone lead were associated with all 4 renal function biomarkers, whereas cumulative blood lead and DMSA chelatable lead were associated with 3 renal biomarkers except BUN.
CONCLUSION
Cumulative blood and ZPP were demonstrated to be good surrogates of lead burden. Furthermore, the cumulative blood ZPP was confirmed to have a better association than the cumulative blood lead.

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The Effect of ALAD and VDR Polymorphism on the Hematopoietic Biomarkers in Lead Exposed Workers: Sung Soo Lee, Nam Soo Kim, Jin Ho Kim, Yong Bae Kim, Young Hwangbo, Hwa Sung Kim, Kyu Dong Ahn, Byung Kook Lee; Korean Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2005;17(4):343-351. Published online December 31, 2005; DOI: https://doi.org/10.35371/kjoem.2005.17.4.343

Abstract PDF: OBJECTIVES
This study was conducted with new workers who entered lead industries from 1992 to 2001 to evaluate the genetic susceptibility of ALAD (delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase) and VDR (vitamin D receptor) gene on health effect of lead exposure.
METHODS
Among the subjects of the database of lead industries at the Soonchunhyang University Institute of Industrial Medicine, only new workers were selected for this study. The total of eligible workers for this category was 3,540 workers, including non lead exposed workers of same lead industries. From stored blood in specimen bank of Soonchunhyang University, genotype of ALAD and VDR were measured using PCR method. Variables for this study were blood lead as an index of lead exposure, ZPP (zinc protoporphyrin in blood), urine ALA (delta-aminolevulinic acid), and hemoglobin as an index of hematopoietic effect of lead. Information on sex, job duration, and weight were collected for personal information. The data were analyzed using SAS (version 8.2) with descriptive analysis of t-test and multiple regression analysis.
RESULTS
Among 3,540 new employed study subjects during period of 1992-2001, 3,204 workers (90.5%) had ALAD genotype 1-1, while 336 workers (9.5%) had variant type of ALAD (1-2 or 2-2). For VDR genotype, 2,903 workers (89.7%) out of total tested 3,238 workers were belonged to type bb and 335 workers (10.5%) were type bB or BB. The distribution of genotype of ALAD and VDR were not different according to the job duration in male workers, but were different in female workers. The effect of ALAD and VDR genotype on blood lead were positively significant in the analysis of all cumulative data of new employed workers for 10 years. The effect of VDR genotype on blood lead were stronger than that of ALAD. While the variant ALAD gene made decrease of mean ZPP and ALA in urine after controlling for blood lead and other covariate, the variant VDR gene made increased the mean ZPP and ALA in urine in all cumulative data analysis and cross sectional analysis by job duration. For hemoglobin, ALAD and VDR genotype did not affect the mean value.
CONCLUSIONS
From the above our results, we found that ALAD and VDR genotype exerted significant effect in various way. We confirmed that the finding of a cross sectional study of protective effect of variant ALAD on the effect of blood lead on blood ZPP in our retrospective study design. It was found that VDR did not exert protective effect for lead exposure as the variant ALAD did.

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Associations of ALAD Genotype with Renal Function Indices in Lead Workers: Sung Soo Lee, Jin Ho Kim, Nam Soo Kim, Hwa Sung Kim, Kyu Dong Ahn, Byung Kook Lee; Korean Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2004;16(2):200-209. Published online June 30, 2004; DOI: https://doi.org/10.35371/kjoem.2004.16.2.200

Abstract PDF

OBJECTIVES
delta-Aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) is a polymorphic enzyme that has two alleles, ALAD1 (ALAD1-1 as genotype) and ALAD2 (ALAD1-2 or ALAD2-2 as genotype). ALAD genotype has been reported to modify the pharmacokinetics and toxicity of lead. The authors investigated the influence of ALAD genotype polymorphism on renal function in lead workers METHODS: We studied 935 male lead workers and 87 male non-lead workers in the same industries. For cross-sectional renal indices, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine, serum uric acid and urine total protein were selected. Blood lead level was also measured an index of lead exposure. Information on weight, age, job duration, and smoking and drinking habits was collected.
RESULTS
Whereas the mean blood lead level of lead workers was 25.4+/-10.9 microgram/dL, that of non-lead workers in the same premise was 10.1+/-2.8 microgram/dL, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant. Whereas the prevalence of the variant allele, ALAD2 in 935 lead workers was 10.6%, that in 87 non-lead workers was 4.6%. However there was no difference of prevalence between the two groups. The mean blood lead level of subjects with ALAD1 was 23.9+/-11.4 microgram/dL, which was slightly lower than that of subjects with ALAD2 (25.8+/-10.7 microgram/dL). However, this difference was not statistically significant. After adjustment for the covariates, the subjects with ALAD2 allele were 12.8% less likely to have a median value or more of BUN than subject with ALAD1. The adjusted odds ratio was 0.59 (95% confidence interval; 0.38-0.91). After adjustment for the covariates, the subjects with ALAD2 allele were 9.3% less likely to have a median value or more of serum creatinine than subject with ALAD1. The adjusted odds ratio was 0.64 (95% confidence interval; 0.41-0.98).
CONCLUSIONS
From the above results, it was found that the variant allele, ALAD2 appeared to modify the association of lead and renal function, and that ALAD2 genotype may be supportive for the protective effect of lead.

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Effects of Factors Associated with Urine Hippuric Acid Correction Values in Urinary Creatinine by HPLC and Jaffe Method and Specific Gravity HPLC Jaffe Method
Key-Young Kim, Jong-Gyu Kim, Ki-Nam Yoon, Wha-Me Park, Hun-Hee Park
Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene.2015; 25(4): 493. CrossRef
Environmental Exposure to Lead (Pb) and Variations in Its Susceptibility
Jina Kim, Youngeun Lee, Mihi Yang
Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part C.2014; 32(2): 159. CrossRef

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