# Risk Assessment of Bisphenol A in the Korean General Population
## 3 Exposure Level of BPA in Korea General Population  
In Republic of Korea, two approaches are used to assess the exposure level of BPA in the general population: a scenario-based exposure assessment approach and a biomonitoring-based extrapolation approach. According to the aggregated exposure assessment of BPA based on the scenario presented in 2020 by the NIFDS, the total exposure amount for the general population was 0.023 \(\mu\)g/kg bw/day for adults and 0.045 ug/kg bw/day for 3-6-year-olds (Table 2). With regard to the values in Table 2, a scenario-based exposure assessment was performed based on BPA concentration data sets in the literature of monitoring studies in Republic of Korea on various exposure sources, such as food, drinking water, consumer products (toys, cosmetics, detergent, etc. ), and house dust. Dietary exposure was assessed using BPA content information of foods (1999-2012) and mean daily consumption data of foods that Koreans eat often and in large amounts. BPA was not detected in most foods except for some foods, such as canned food, and 1/2 limit of detection (LOD) was applied to the value for non-detection to calculate the mean BPA content of each food. The non-dietary sources that may lead to exposure of the general population were assessed based on source concentrations and intake amount. Scenario-based exposure assessment was calculated as the sum of the exposure to various exposure materials, such as food, drinking water, cosmetics, personal products (detergent and toothpaste), toys, and environmental sources (indoor dust, outdoor air). All sources were considered chronic exposure. Exposure assessment of each source was conducted according to the deterministic calculation, and exposures from all available sources were aggregated. All relevant consumer groups were included and were stratified according to age: toddlers (3-6 years), children (7-12 years), adolescents (13-18 years), and adults (19-79 years). In the scenario-based aggregated exposure assessment, food was the main exposure source for all age groups. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline
**Agencies** & **Endpoint** & **Point of Departure** & **Tolerable Daily** \\  & & **(Uncertainty Factor)** & **Intake** \\ \hline EFSA [6] & Immunotoxicity & BMDL\({}_{20}\) 0.93 ng/kg bw/day & 0.04 ng/kg bw/day \\  & & (25) & 0.04 ng/kg bw/day \\ Canada [7] & Body weight reduction & NOEL 25 mg/kg bw/day & 0.025 mg/kg bw/day \\  & Development and reproduction effects & NOAEL 5 mg/kg bw/day & 0.025 mg/kg bw/day \\ FAO/WHO [8] & Reproductive toxicity & NOAEL 5 mg/kg bw/day & - \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: _Cont._BPA was positive in all of the canned food samples, while it was not detected in non-canned foods. Although dust is considered to be a minor exposure source for humans [53], indoor dust was considered one of the main exposures for the 3-6-year-old group of in this study. The scenario of [PERSON] et al. [54] was similar to that of the NIFDS's aggregated exposure to BPA, and the total exposure amount was lower than the EU exposure range of 0.140 to 0.384 \(\mu\)g/kg bw/day for 3-45-year-olds. Since 2009, numerous biomonitoring studies to quantify BPA exposure have been conducted in Republic of Korea. Biomonitoring data represent an integrated measure of BPA exposure from multiple sources and routes. More than 90% of Koreans have detectable levels of BPA in their urine, and the exposure level to BPA has been shown to have decreased in all age groups since 2015 [18; 55]. However, total BPA concentrations in previous studies have been reported, and some differences exist. These differences may be related to differences in the study designs, analytical methods used, or study population. To assess exposure to BPA for the general population of all ages in Republic of Korea, this study used national biomonitoring survey data, which was conducted by the Ministry of Environment Korea (KME).