Gejang (marinated crab) is a favorite traditional food and a main source of crab intake among Koreans. The present study aimed to identify the possibility of cadmium inflow to the body through gejang; accordingly, the relationship between gejang intake frequency and amount, and blood cadmium concentrations was investigated.

Using data from the first Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in the sixth period in 2013, means and standard errors of blood cadmium concentrations in relation to gejang intake frequency and amount, as well as the monthly intake of gejang, were obtained from 1381 participants for whom data regarding blood cadmium concentration measurements was available.

After adjustment for confounding factors, a gejang intake frequency of four or fewer times per week and a monthly intake of 200 cm³ or less had no significant effect on blood cadmium concentrations. However, participants with gejang intake of at least five times per week had a weighted mean cadmium concentration of 2.12 μg/L (p < 0.001), and participants who had a gejang monthly intake of more than 200 cm³ had a weighted mean cadmium concentration of 1.76 μg/L (p < 0.001).

These results suggest that to minimize the effect of gejang consumption on blood cadmium level, gejang intake should be limited to four or less times per week and 200 cm³ or less per month. Weekly intake of at least five times and monthly intake of more than 200 cm³ may increase blood cadmium levels.

Lead is a metal that has no biological function useful for the human body. In Korea, non-occupational exposure to lead has mostly occurred through taking oriental medicine. However, in this paper we report a case of lead poisoning caused by ingesting talisman material.

A 16-year-old male patient complained of severe abdominal pain after taking cinnabar, a talisman material. He was diagnosed with lead poisoning accompanied by acute hepatitis. We confirmed that the cinnabar the patient took contained about 10% elemental lead. After symptom management, the patients’ symptoms, liver function test results, and blood lead concentration level improved.

Lead poisoning can be accompanied by hepatitis, although rarely. As we have confirmed that cinnabar as a talisman material is harmful to the human body, measures to prevent its misuse are needed.