Cadmium risk group

This review will be focused on available literature data of concentration levels of lead, cadmium, and mercury in different food items in Croatia and in other republics of former Yugoslavia, compared to other eastern and western European countries. The evaluation of the daily dietary intake of metals in general population, obtained by different methods will be also presented compared to other countries. Although the author is aware of the high risk groups within the country population (small children and pregnant women), the data presented here q)ply only to adult general population, as such data from other countries are available in the literature. 

The current PTWI is 7 pg kg body weight (WHO 2001). Particular risk groups can be characterized, namely of children smokers women with low iron stores consumers of food items with high cadmium content and extreme consumers of staple food items. At present, by using available data, it is not possible to characterize risk groups in detail, either at EU level or at Member State level. However, most Member States appear to have an average intake of cadmium which is lower than the WHO s PTWI (de Meeus et al. 2002). In Germany, one study indicated enhanced levels in an industrialized area (Wilhelm et al. 

Staessen JA, Roels HA, EmeUanov D, Kuznetsova T, Thijs L, Vangronsveld J, Fagard R. Environmental exposure to cadmium, forearm bone density, and risk of fractures prospective population study. Public Health and Environmental Exposure to Cadmium (PheeCad) Study Group. Lancet 1999 353(9159) 1140-4. 

Eggenberger and Waber 1998, Cadmium in Seepage Waters of Landfills A Statistical and Geochemical Evaluation, Report of November 20, 1997 for the OECD Advisory Group on Risk Management Meeting, February 9-10,1998, Paris, France. 

But some chemicals are bad actors they pose serious risks to human health and the environment. Lead, cadmium, DDT, CFCs, and PCBs are examples of hazardous chemicals that should not be in products. Chemicals that persist, bioaccumulate, and are toxic are dusted across the globe. The vast majority, if not all, humans and mammals, are contaminated with human-made chemicals. Literally, there is no human control group—every person on the planet carries industrial chemicals that were not present 100 years ago. Some of these chemicals have the potential to cause cancer or adverse effects to the brain, normal development, or the endocrine, reproductive, or immune system. The result is a vast chemical experiment with unknown consequences. 

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