1. Introduction
Cadmium is a naturally occurring heavy metal from the Earth’s crust. Main sources of cadmium exposure include foods (e.g. plants, seafood) and ambient air that has been polluted by tobacco smoke, house dust, or industrial emissions.
Cadmium has a slow elimination rate, and thus accumulates in the human body with age (ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry), 2012). It has a number of negative effects on human health, including nephrotoxicity,
carcinogenicity, and neurotoxicity (ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry), 2012;IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer), 2012).