Exposure assessment and risk characterisation of ethyl carbamate from Korean traditional fermented rice wine, Takju and Yakju

Ethyl carbamate is one of the most hazardous chemicals naturally occurring in food, and is present in alcoholic beverages. Korean traditional rice wine, Takju and Yakju, is frequently consumed in Korea, but there have been no studies characterising the risks of ethyl carbamate in these products. In order to assess and characterise the exposure risk of ethyl carbamate in Korean traditional rice wines, ethyl carbamate was investigated by means of GC-MS. The analytical methods were optimised and validated through determining linearity, detection limit, quantification limit, recovery and precision. A total of 283 traditional Korean rice wines, including 175 Takju and 108 Yakju samples, were analysed. Exposure assessment was performed by factoring in ethyl carbamate content, daily consumption and body weight. Daily exposures of ethyl carbamate were estimated for adults in four age groups, and risks of ethyl carbamate were characterised by the margin of exposure, which is more than 10 000. Based on this study, the risks of ethyl carbamate in Korean traditional rice wine were shown to be of low concern.