Airborne cadmium and carcinogenesis of the respiratory tract.

Abstract

Airborne cadmium and carcinogenesis of the respiratory tract. by Oberdorster G This article in PubMed: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3547632 J Work Environ Health 12 (1986) 523 -537 Airborne cadmium and carcinogenesis of the respiratory tract by Gunter Oberdorster, DrMedVet 1 OBERDORSTER G. Airborne cadmium and carci nogenesis of the respirat ory tract. Scand J Work En viron Health 12 (1986) 523-537. Exposure to airborne cadmium occurs mainly at the workplace. Significan t exposure also occurs through smoki ng. Results of a recent epidemiologic stu dy suggest that occupational inhalation of cadmium is connected with an increased lung cancer risk. This finding corrobo rates th e high lung cancer incidence found among rat s after chronic low-level exposure to cadmium chloride aero sols. Differences in the tumor sites, exposur e conditions, and the pulmonary metabolism of cadmium between rod ents and man mak e it diffi cult to extra polate quantitatively from rat s to humans. In contr ast to the workpl ace, concentrations of cadmium in ambient air ar e very low, a nd the risk of lung cancer is probably very low, even for people living close to cadm ium-emitting ind ustries . The chemical form of inhaled cadmium appears to be importa nt. While cadmium oxide and cadmium chloride seem to be equally toxic, cadmium sulfide exhibits a lower acute pulmonary toxicity. However, whether this is also true for carcinogenic effects is not known. Additional long-term inhalation studies with animal s and further evaluat ion of epidemiologic studie s are necessary to answer questions about the carcinogenic potency of cadmium compounds of different chemical form. As long as such results are not available, it is prudent to regard all cadmium compounds as having a carcinogenic potential. REVIEWS Scand

Epidemiological and experimental aspects of metal carcinogenesis: physicochemical properties, kinetics, and the active species.

“…The results of epidemiological studies are ambiguous (85 Cadmium concentrations used in the rat inhalation experiments were several orders ofmagnitude higher than concentrations in ambient air but lower than industrial stards or concentrations associated with increased incidence of lung cancer in occupational cohorts. Nevertheless, the concentrations were high relative to toxic concentrations for the species.…”

“…The resultant epidemiological studies, from the United Kingdom, United States, and Sweden, covered not only Ni-Cd battery plants but also Cd smelters and the production ofCd compounds and alloys. These studies were the subjects of several reviews (2,(84)(85)(86)(87).…”

“…Assuming that in industrial exposure the median aerodynamic diameter of CdO particles is about 2 to 3 zm, deposition must be predominantly in the conducting airway and the origin of tumors bronchogenic. Limited epidemiological evidence indicates that this is the case (85,120).…”

Hazardous air pollutants and asthma.

“…The particle size also may differ: particles in freshly (215)], whereas the cutoff diameter of ambient aerosol containing HAPs is 2.5 µm (PM 2.5 ). Besides mass concentration (i.e., µg/m 3 ), certain aspects of particulate toxicity depend on the particle number and surface area (216)(217)(218). Because mass depends on particle volume, small increases in diameter in this range can have large influences on the reduction in number of particles.…”

Cadmium-regulated Genes from the NematodeCaenorhabditis elegans

“…It induces lung, kidney, prostate, and testicular cancers in rats and mice (5). Human epidemiological data suggest that it causes tumors of the male reproductive system and induces respiratory tumors (5,9).…”