Human health risk assessment of toxic elements in South Korean cabbage, Kimchi, using Monte Carlo simulations

Abstract Korean cabbage kimchi (KCM) is a traditional Korean cuisine made from Korean cabbage, blended with condiments such as red pepper powder, garlic, ginger, and salt-pickled seafood. Though it has been studied widely for its nutritional values, the levels of toxic materials in kimchi, bioaccumulated in its raw ingredients, and their health risks have not been explored yet. This study assessed the health risk of toxic elements in KCM considering the contamination of the food, food intake, and body weight of an individual. A total of 315 KCM samples were randomly collected and analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to quantify toxic elements. The method was validated for linearity, limits of detection and quantification, precision, accuracy, and recovery. Furthermore, Monte Carlo simulation was employed to reduce the uncertainty, and the contamination levels of five different percentile ranges (5p, 25p, 50p, 75p, and 95p) were used to calculate the estimated daily intake (EDI), which was then used for calculating the hazard quotient (HQ) for health risk assessment considering the effects of age and gender of Koreans separately. The results confirmed that KCM is safe up to the extremely consumed concentration percentile (95p) in all groups.