| Adverse Health Effects of Chronic Exposure to Low-Level Cadmium in Foodstuffs and Cigarette Smoke Soisungwan Satarug1 and Michael R. Moore1,2 1National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; 2Queensland Health Scientific Services, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Abstract
Cadmium is a cumulative nephrotoxicant that is absorbed into the body from dietary sources and cigarette smoking. The levels of Cd in organs such as liver and kidney cortex increase with age because of the lack of an active biochemical process for its elimination coupled with renal reabsorption. Recent research has provided evidence linking Cd-related kidney dysfunction and decreases in bone mineral density in nonoccupationally exposed populations who showed no signs of nutritional deficiency. This challenges the previous view that the concurrent kidney and bone damage seen in Japanese itai-itai disease patients was the result of Cd toxicity in combination with nutritional deficiencies, notably, of zinc and calcium. Further, such Cd-linked bone and kidney toxicities were observed in people whose dietary Cd intakes were well within the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) set by the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives of 1 µg/kg body weight/day or 70 µg/day. This evidence points to the much-needed revision of the current PTWI for Cd. Also, evidence for the carcinogenic risk of chronic Cd exposure is accumulating and Cd effects on reproductive outcomes have begun to emerge. Key words: bone density, cadmium, calcium, cancer, dietary intake, estrogen, food legislation, iron, maximum limit, nephrotoxicant, proteinuria, zinc. Environ Health Perspect 112:1099-1103 (2004) . doi:10.1289/ehp.6751 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 25 March 2004]
Address correspondence to S. Satarug, National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, The University of Queensland, 39 Kessels Rd., Coopers Plains, Brisbane, Queensland 4108, Australia. Telephone: 61-7-3274-9004. Fax: 61-7-3274-9003. E-mail: s.satarug@uq.edu.au We thank the Peanut Company of Australia for their support for cadmium research and for their total commitment to cadmium minimization through environmental management and agricultural practices. The National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology is funded by The University of Queensland, Queensland Health, Queensland University of Technology, and Griffith University. The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 22 September 2003 ; accepted 25 March 2004.
The full version of this article is available for free in HTML or PDF formats. |
