Since 2003, the National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) of Korea has been conducting "The monitoring study on exposure level and biomarkers of environmental pollutants" in the Ulsan industrial complex with the goals to establish a surveillance system for residents, to evaluate the health effects associated with chronic exposure to environmental pollutants and to develop the environmental health indicators in Ulsan industrial complex. This program consists of three phases an initial or foundation phase in which the program is developed, made operational and extended to the community, followed by an evaluation and accountability assessment of the surveillance system and finally an improvement in the quality of life and the maintenance of good health for Ulsan residents. In the period 2003 to 2008, the study program developed the surveillance system which will be used for the full-length survey. All participants in this study were contacted at a presentation meeting for residents, introduced to the objectives and protocols of the survey, and asked to participate. Informed consent was obtained from each participant. The study is now underway and includes questionnaires, health examinations and the analysis/collection/banking of bio-sample such as blood and urine. To date 828 subjects have participated and already 588 subjects have been followed up. We are committed to complete health examinations and to arrange storage of biosample for all participants. During the current year, we will analyze metals (Pb in blood and Cd, inorganic As and Hg in urine) in 1,972 samples and VOCs (11 species) and PARs (18 species) in 300 samples (blood sample). Moreover, the summary of the first step and the further preparation of the second step are currently underway. In this article, we introduce the study and its protocols and the distribution and size of the study participants. In conclusion, this survey will be continuously conducted on the established cohort and will enable the identification of relationship between environmental pollutant exposures and the health status of residents in Ulsan industrial complex.