Glossary of Terms

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Cadmium
Symbol: Cd
Atomic Number: 48

Cadmium is toxic metal with a long history of detrimental effects. Common sources of contamination are: cigarette smoke, refined foods, water pipes, coffee and tea, coal burning, and shellfish. A pack of cigarettes contains roughly 20 mcg. of cadmium, or about 1 mcg. per cigarette. An estimated 30 percent of that goes into the lungs and is absorbed, with the remaining 70 percent entering the atmosphere and inhaled by others or polluting the environment. As a little cadmium is stored every day, long-term smoking can increase the risk of cadmium toxicity.

Cadmium is also used in alloys, in electrical materials, and is present in ceramics, dental materials, and storage batteries. Soft or acid water is corrosive and causes metals in water pipes to break down, which releases cadmium and other minerals. On the other hand, hard water, containing calcium and magnesium salts, actually coats the pipes and protects against the leaching of other minerals.

Environmental air pollution of cadmium comes from zinc mining and refining, and from the burning of coal. Soil levels of cadmium are increased by cadmium in water, by sewage contamination, by cadmium in the air, and by high-phosphate fertilizers. Due to soil contamination by cadmium, root vegetables such as potatoes may pick up more cadmium, and the grains can concentrate cadmium. Seafood, particularly crustaceans, such as crab and lobster, and mollusks, like oysters and clams, have higher cadmium levels.

Research has shown that cadmium appears to depress some immune functions, mainly by reducing host resistance to bacteria and viruses.

The term cadmium comes from the Greek word kadmeia (the ancient name for calamine) and from the Latin word cadmia.

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