With increasing evidence of cadmium’s toxicity, both national and international agencies have sought to regulate its exposure. Because much is known about the toxic and health effects of cadmium; there is a large database from which to set standards for occupational, health, and environmental levels (Satoh et al. 2002).
Many health agencies have set exposure standards designed to protect the general public from excess cadmium exposure
from various sources.
FDA
Maximum limit of cadmium in bottled water: 0.005 mg/L.
ATSDR
Chronic durational oral minimal risk level (MRL) of 0.0002 mg/kg/day of cadmium based on its renal effects.
This MRL standard states how much cadmium can be taken in orally chronically without risk of adverse health effects (ATSDR 1999).
EPA
Food – Reference dose is 1 x 10-3 mg/kg/day (ATSDR 1999).
Water - Reference dose for human exposure is 5 x 10-4 mg/kg/day.
Reference dose (Rfd) is an estimate of a daily exposure to the general population (including sensitive subgroups) that is likely to be without appreciable risk of deleterious effects during a lifetime (IRIS 2006).
World Health Organization (WHO)
Tolerable weekly intake for cadmium at 7μg/kg/body weight/week
Drinking water - maximum contaminant level for cadmium in drinking water is 0.005 mg/L. (ATSDR, 1999)
Air - Cadmium is on the EPA National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) list of 189 hazardous air pollutants. Cadmium is listed as one of 33 hazardous air pollutants that present the greatest threat to public health in urban areas (ATSDR 1999).
Soil – EPA biosolids rule states that the ceiling for the amount of cadmium that can be applied to land is 85 mg/kg fill material
(NTP 2004).