• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.11 no.1_2
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• pp.19-29
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• 1996

Human exposure to volatile compounds in tap water can occur from inhalation and dermal absorption as well as direct ingestion. The relative contribution to total human exposure from these pathways has been considered to be important especially for VOC's (volatile organic compounds). In an attempt to reduce the uncertainty of the risk assessment, it has been suggested that the exposure assessment process could be significantly improved by adopting Monte-Carlo simulation. However, there is no actual data in Korea for each exposure parameter to determine the level of exposure, and the distributional pattern. Therefore, we surveyed water use patterns and behavior related to multi-route exposure to VOC's in household tap water in Korea, and compared these values to the those in western countries. In the first survey, we calculated daily water intake using data from a sample of 1322 persons of several cities in Korea. In the second survey, we obtained questionnaire data on exposure time for showering, bathing and household activities, and tap water intake from 851households in Korea. In the last survey, we measured the exposure parameters (exposure time, water use rate etc.) related to showers, baths, toilets, dish washing, washing and cooking, and tap water intake was surveyed. Also, the subjects were measured their body weight, height and tidal volume, etc. A diary, a flow meter and a measuring cup were used to measure these values as precisely as possible. Average daily water intake was ranged 0.79-1.71 L/day for adults in three surveys. Tap water intake measured by log-sheet during one week in third survey was 1.26 (average), 1.98 L/day (90 percentlie), respectively. These results were comparable with results from EPA (1.4, 2L/day). The average amount of water used by housewives in the third survey was 515.0 $\pm$ 564.6L/day. In usual activity, the amount of water used in the bathroom, the laundry and the kitchen was 140.0 $\pm$ 538.9, 148.0 $\pm$ 174.5, 229.3 $\pm$ 205.4 L/day, respectively. Exposure parameters such as water intake rate, exposure duration, body weight, inhalation rates in surveyed data of Korean people differed from those published from western countries. This could be attributed to variations in lifestyle, dietary habits and physiological characteristics.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.419-431
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• 2005

The prevalence of atopic dermatitis (AD) continues to increase in the industrialized countries related to Western lifestyle and dietary patterns. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the nutritional status, dietary patterns and dietary quality of AD patients. AD patients (n=50) and gender age matched healthy control (HC) were studied in case-control clinical trail. Preference and frequencies of consumption for 98 foods were estimated by questionnaires. Dietary pattern, current nutrients intake, and dietary quality were evaluated by the 3-day food records. As a result, anthropometric measurements from HC and AD patients were not significantly different. AD patients had significantly lower preference for buckwheat, some fishes (shellfish, flatfish, salmon), egg yolk, some vegetables (onion, garlic, Chinese-cabbage, radish, pepper, mushroom), coffee, and snack than those of HC had (p<0.05). AD patients had significantly lower frequency for pea, some fishes (shellfish, herring, flatfish, salmon, codfish), egg, some vegetables (spinach, pumpkin, mushroom), margarine/butter, nuts, coffee and apple juice, fried chicken, coke than those of HC had (p<0.05). The intake of vitamin $B_1$, vitamin $B_2$ (p<0.05) and vitamin E (p<0.001) of AD patients were significantly lower than those of HC. The intake for Ca and Zn of AD patients were remarkably lower than RDA for each nutrient. Moreover, AD patients' index of nutritional quality (INQ) and nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR) of vitamin E, vitamin $B_1$, vitamin $B_2$ were lower than those of HC. AD patients' dietary quality including dietary diversity score (DDS), dietary variety score (DVS), DMGFV (dairy, meat, grain, fruit, vegetable), dietary quality index (DQI) was poor. This results indicate that atopic dermatitis patients had significantly different food preference and food frequency when these were compared with those of healthy people. The dietary diversity, dietary variety and dietary quality of atopic dermatitis patients were very limited.