Cancer Trends Progress Report

Cadmium is an element found in low concentrations in the earth’s crust. It is usually found as a mineral combined with other elements such as oxygen (cadmium oxide), chlorine (cadmium chloride), or sulfur (cadmium sulfate, cadmium sulfide).

All soils and rocks, including coal and mineral fertilizers, contain some cadmium. Most cadmium used in the United States is extracted during the production of other metals like zinc, lead, and copper. Cadmium has many uses, including in the production of batteries, pigments, metal coatings, and plastics.

Cadmium and its compounds are highly toxic and exposure is known to cause cancer. It is primarily associated with human lung, prostate, and kidney cancers, and recently pancreatic cancer. It has also been associated with cancers of the breast and urinary bladder.

The general population may be exposed to small amounts of cadmium daily through food, tobacco smoke (as active or secondhand smoke), drinking water, and air. Cadmium is introduced to the food chain through agricultural soils, which may naturally contain cadmium; anthropogenic (human) sources; cadmium-based pigments; and stabilizers used in certain plastics. While dietary sources can be sporadic, intake from tobacco occurs with each cigarette smoked and can proceed for decades, resulting in accumulation of metals like cadmium in the body. Cadmium levels are expected to be low in drinking water and ambient air, except in the vicinity of cadmium-emitting industries or incinerators.

Occupational exposure to cadmium primarily occurs in operations involving heating cadmium-containing products. Occupations with the highest potential for exposure include alloy production, battery production, pigment production and use, plastics production, and smelting and refining. Although levels vary widely among the different industries, occupational exposures generally have decreased since the 1970s.