Concern over cadmium

Cadmium is a carcinogen that is a by-product of refining lead, zinc, copper, and other metals. One of its primary commercial uses has been in rechargeable batteries, such as those found in cordless phones and power tools.

Cadmium, like lead, could be turning up as a contaminant in consumer products imported from China in part because a cottage industry has developed there to melt down computer parts and other electronic waste. That process produces aggregate metals for items such as inexpensive jewelry, says David Carpenter, M.D., director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany, in New York. And although there are less-toxic alternatives, cadmium is also used as a pigment, a stabilizer in plastics, and a rust protectant for auto parts.

As this issue went to press, the Consumer Product Safety Commission was still working on regulations to limit the use of cadmium. Currently the CPSC says toys must comply with the limit of 75 parts per million (ppm) for soluble cadmium in surface coatings established by ASTM, an international organization that develops voluntary standards.

"We are working on a new specific limit for cadmium in children's products separate from the current limit in surface coatings for toys, and that's gone through independent scientific review," CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson says. Sweden began limiting the use of cadmium in many products in the 1970s, and the European Union more recently set new rules.

Long-term exposure to cadmium has been linked to a host of adult health problems, including high blood pressure and age-related macular degeneration, as well as cancer of the lung, breast, and kidney. Children's developing bodies are especially vulnerable to damage from both lead and cadmium, but long-term exposure even at relatively low levels can be hazardous to anyone.

"Current research on cadmium's health effects is less than one–tenth of that for lead because lead was added to gasoline and paint before its ban and people never expected to see cadmium in consumer products like toys and jewelry," says Aimin Chen, an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine who specializes in environmental and pediatric epidemiology. "But there is no question that adults and children should limit their exposure to both of these very toxic substances." The U.S. banned the use of lead in gasoline and house paint in the 1970s. Since a flood of lead-tainted toy recalls led to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act in 2008, it is illegal to manufacture or sell children's products that contain more than 300 ppm of total lead. Limits for lead in paint and surface coatings used on any consumer product are down to 90 ppm from 600 ppm. Lead still can be used legally in other ways in many other consumer products.