Elementary school students in South Korea have much higher levels of mercury in their blood and urine than those in other countries, a government survey showed Sunday.

According to the survey by the Ministry of Environment last year, South Korean children aged 8-13 have a mercury level of around 2.42 parts per billion (ppb) in their blood.

Comparable figures in other countries are 1.0 ppb in Germany, 0.34 ppb in the United States, 17.6 ppb in China and 6.6 ppb in Japan, the survey showed.

The survey was based on blood and urine samples taken from a total of 2,000 children from 26 elementary schools last year.

Mercury is a major toxic heavy metal that could cause damage to nervous systems if it is excessively accumulated in human bodies.

As for the mercury level in urine, South Korean children have 2.53 microgram per gram, higher than their counterparts in Japan with 1.06 and in Germany with 0.7, according to the survey.

The survey did not analyze the reasons behind the higher mercury levels among South Korean children.

Seoul, Feb. 25 (Yonhap News)