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Cadmium |
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Hazards are present in
every work environment; being unaware of them, especially when dealing with
cadmium, can have critical, even fatal, consequences. Included among the references listed below
are most of the major activities in which cadmium exposure may or has occurred.
These links also aid in recognizing cadmium and cadmium compounds and the health effects associated with them.
Characteristics and Properties
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Occupational Exposure to Cadmium. OSHA Preambles to Final Rules, (1992).
- IV. Chemical Identification, Production, and Use of Cadmium.
Identifies cadmium
(Chemical Services Registry Number 7740-43-9) as a soft, blue-white malleable,
lustrous metal or a grayish-white powder that is insoluble in water and reacts
readily with dilute nitric acid. A primary use for cadmium metal is as an
anticorrosive, electroplated onto steel. Cadmium may serve as an electrode
component in alkaline batteries and may be used in alloys, silver solders, and
welding.
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Cadmium Compounds (as Cd).
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health
Concentrations (IDHL) Documentation, (1996, August 16). Includes permissible
exposure limit (PEL), IDLH, and
acute toxicity data.
- Toxicological
Profile for Cadmium. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Register (ATSDR), (1999, July). Includes lists of the common synonyms, trade names, and other pertinent identification
information for cadmium and its most important compounds. Lists important
physical and chemical properties of cadmium and its most important compounds.
Hazard Recognition
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Potential Hazards Associated With The Refurbishing of Gas Meters. OSHA
Health Information Bulletin (HIB), (2001, December 21). Also available as a 26
KB
PDF, 3 pages. Warns
of potential cadmium dust exposure for employers and employees who repair or
refurbish gas meters. Cleaning the threaded male gas inlet and outlet fitting on
gas meters, called "ferrules" or "spuds", with high-speed
rotating wire brushes may release cadmium dust. Employers at gas meter repair
shops should determine whether meters being worked on are plated with cadmium
and, if so, determine if workers are exposed.
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Cadmium Overexposure in the Aircraft Repair Industry. OSHA Health Information
Bulletin (HIB), (1989, February 21). Identifies a potential health hazard in the aircraft
servicing, repairing, and maintenance industry resulting from exposure to
cadmium dust. An inspection of an Eastern Airlines landing gear shop revealed
employee exposures to 85 times the ceiling limit (0.5 mg/m(3)). Unventilated
grinding activities to cadmium plated landing gear components were the cause.
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Shipyard Employment.
OSHA eTool.
- Cadmium
(Cd). US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) Publication No. 84-116 (Current Intelligence Bulletin 42), (1984, September 27). Estimates that
approximately 1,500,000 workers may be potentially exposed to cadmium, of which
approximately 100,000 are identified with exposure to specific cadmium compounds
or with industries that utilize cadmium (based on data from the National
Occupational Hazard Survey). Sources of potential worker exposure to
cadmium include ore smelting operations, mist from cadmium-containing
electroplating baths, calcination (drying) of cadmium pigments, and handling of
powdered cadmium oxide in production of cadmium soaps that are used to stabilize
plastics.
- Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Exposure to Cadmium.
US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Publication No. 76-192, (1976, August). Proposes a recommended standard based on the health effects of exposure to
cadmium.
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Documentation for Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health Concentrations (IDLH). National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
National Technical Information Service (NTIS) Publication No. PB-94-195047, (1994, May).
Documents the criteria and
information sources that have been used by the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to determine immediately dangerous to
life or health concentrations (IDLHs), including cadmium.
- Cadmium (Cd). National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Current Intelligence Bulletin 42,
(1984, September 27). Recommends that cadmium and its compounds be regarded as
potential occupational carcinogens and that appropriate controls be used to
reduce worker exposure.
- Cadmium hazards may be present in a number of seemingly unrelated operations
and materials, such as paints, batteries, and phosphate fertilizers.
- For additional information, see OSHA's Safety and Health Topics Pages on:
Health Effects
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Occupational Exposure to Cadmium. OSHA Preambles to Final Rules, (1992).
- V. Health Effects.
Documents the adverse health effects from acute and chronic exposure to
cadmium in both humans and animals.
- Acute — Indicates that metal fume fever may result from acute
exposure with flu-like symptoms of weakness, fever, headache, chills, sweating and
muscular pain. Acute pulmonary edema usually develops within 24 hours and reaches a
maximum by three days. If death from asphyxia does not occur, symptoms may resolve within a week.
- Chronic — Identifies the most serious consequence of chronic
cadmium poisoning is cancer (lung and prostate). The first observed chronic effect is
generally kidney damage, manifested by excretion of excessive (low molecular weight)
protein in the urine. Cadmium also is believed to cause pulmonary emphysema and bone
disease (osteomalcia and osteoporosis). The latter has been observed in Japan
("itai-itai" disease) where residents were exposed to cadmium in rice crops
irrigated with cadmium-contaminated water. Cadmium may also cause anemia, teeth
discoloration (Cd forms CdS) and loss of smell (anosmia).
- Cadmium (CAS No. 7440-43-9) and Cadmium Compounds. Report on
Carcinogens (RoC). National Toxicology Program (NTP), US Department
of Health and Human Services (DHHS), (2005, January 1), 149 KB PDF, 3 pages.
Cadmium and cadmium compounds are known to be human carcinogens based on
sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in humans, including epidemiological and
mechanistic information that indicate a causal relationship between exposure to
cadmium and cadmium compounds and human cancer.
- Cadmium
compounds (as Cd). National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health
Concentrations (IDLH) Documentation.
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Worker Notification Program - Cadmium Recovery Workers (Cadmium). National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), (2004, August 17). Includes sections
on the following subjects: NIOSH Kidney Study, NIOSH Mortality Study, charts that
show the risk of dying from lung cancer for cadmium workers at the plant,
Steps to Protect Your Health, Estimated "Relative" Risk of Dying
from Lung Cancer, and Additional Resources.
- Thun MJ, Schnorr TM, et al.
Mortality among a cohort of
U.S. cadmium workers--an update. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 1985 Feb;74(2):
325-33.
- Cadmium Public Health Statement. Agency for
Toxic Substances and Disease Register (ATSDR), 144 KB PDF,
13 pages. Discusses cadmium.
- For additional information regarding the health effects of cadmium, see
OSHA's Carcinogens
Safety and Health Topics Page.
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