ABSTRACT

Cadmium is a ubiquitous, highly toxic element that is present at low levels throughout the environment, including food, water, and soil (1), and in most biological substrates, although it has no known biological role. Thus the primary routes of exposure to the metal are dietary in the general population and dermal contact upon sustained occupational exposure. Persistent in the environment and living organisms, the toxicology of the metal has been well documented (2). In accord with its relatively high ionization energy, Cd2 is highly electropositive and Cd complexes have a considerably covalent character. This accounts for the antagonistic effect that cadmium has on other essential trace metals in the mammalian organism, such as copper, iron, zinc and magnesium (3-5). There is also growing evidence that cadmium interferes with bone formation (6) and increases bone resorption (7) in vivo, and that it decreases osteoblastic accumulation of calcium in vitro (8).