Cadmium and health: a survey

Cadmium is a toxic heavy metal which is widely present in our environment. Recent investigations suggest that cadmium levels in the environment are rising as a result of increased industrial use. The elimination of cadmium from the body takes place at an extraordinary low rate, so that the metal accumulates in the body, primarily in the liver and kidneys. When cadmium concentration in the kidney cortex becomes sufficiently high a tubular kidney dysfunction is induced. Newly born are practically free from cadmium, while a middle‐aged man carries a cadmium concentration in the kidney cortex of about 20 μg Cd/g. However, the variation in individual concentrations is large; this means that some people in larger populations may already have cadmium concentrations in the renal cortex close to the critical level.