Abstract
The seriousness of cadmium as a toxic agent has been recognized for many years, but the nature of the toxicity has been obscure. As a divalent cation, cadmium has the potential for interaction with biochemical systems that normally interact with calcium, magnesium, and zinc. The symptoms of cadmiosis reflect such interactions. The testicular necrosis of cadmium poisoning suggests strongly that zinc metabolism in testicular tissue is disrupted (1, 2). The “itaiitai” disease which has been extensively investigated in Japan by Kobayashi (3) implicate cadmium interference with calcium metabolism. Unlike other divalent toxic agents such as cobalt or beryllium, cadmium is seldom the causative agent in acute poisoning (4). Cadmium is insidious in that long exposure to presumably “safe” amounts in the environment can lead to drastic and perhaps irreversible physiological consequences (5). The relative binding constants for cadmium by acetate, imidizole, amino, and sulfhydryl groups is some six to 10 times the con...
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