CADMIUM – ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD

The paper presents some information about current status of cadmium as an environmental health problem. Agricultural uses of phosphate fertilizers, sewage sludge and industrial uses of Cd are the major source of widespread of this metal at trace levels into the general environment and human foodstuffs. It is well known that high cadmium (Cd) exposure causes renal damage, anemia, enteropathy, osteoporosis, osteomalacia, whereas the dose-response relationship at low levels exposure is less established. During the last decade an increasing number of studies have found an adverse health effects due to low environmental exposure to Cd. Many authors try to determine the relationship between Cd intake and Cd toxicity indicators, especially dealing renal tubular damage. The level of b2-microglobulin in urine is regarded as the most sensitive biomarker of renal disfunction due to low environmental Cd concentrations