ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the general aspects of the health problems caused by cadmium. The diagnosis of cadmium poisoning relies on an understanding of the three major disease processes that cadmium can start: obstructive lung disease, renal tubular disease, and a combination of osteoporosis and osteomalacia. There is no specific treatment for chronic cadmium poisoning. Cadmium affects collagen metabolism in animals. Human beings are exposed to cadmium from a large number of different sources. A major source of cadmium exposure via inhalation is cigarette smoke. Dose-response relationships are difficult to establish because time-weighted exposure averages are usually not available and because the pulmonary changes could also be caused by peak exposures which have not been recognized. On a global scale the major problem is the contamination of the environment and the associated accumulation of cadmium in the human body.
