What is Cadmium?

@StarJo: You think they polluted the river on purpose, or because of the lack of environmental monitoring by government officials means that factories making cheap crap for the western market can carry on doing so?

If you look closely at the factories and the products they make, it will surely be an American business getting these factories to make a product they can ship home and thus polluting somewhere else due to the strict pollution guidelines within the U.S.

You would think with the way the size of a soda is being regulated in New York I think it is, that the seriousness of cadmium would be made more aware to the public, or even its use restricted.

Cadmium is one of the carcinogens in cigarettes. I'm so glad that my husband quit smoking after only six years, because he has spared his body from the many horrible effects of carcinogens.

Cadmium damages the lungs, and we all know that this is what cigarettes are infamous for doing. It also hurts your other organs and eventually kills you.

I have read that cadmium can mess up your senses. Maybe this is why my husband's sense of smell was so dull before. He has regained it since he quit, but it took awhile.

My sister quit smoking as well, and she told me that all those years, she never knew how bad her clothing and house had smelled. After quitting, she could smell cigarette smoke on everything.

I heard about an incident of cadmium pollution in a river in China that killed millions of fish. What's even worse is that this river was where people got their drinking water from, so you can imagine how everyone panicked.

Some businesses along the river were to blame. They dumped waste into the river that contained cadmium. I think this is very dumb, because they were polluting their own drinking supply.

You can bet that millions of people ran out and stocked up on bottled water after hearing this. Some kind of neutralizer was used to treat the river, but still, it would be hard to trust that it was safe to drink again so soon after the incident.

@wavy58 – You are really only in danger from cadmium when you breathe it in or eat it, so you don't have to worry too much about cadmium poisoning when touching it. I've read that your skin doesn't easily absorb it.

However, it might be a good idea to wear gloves when painting with cadmium paint. This is just because you might have small cuts or openings in your skin, and the cadmium could get into your blood through these.

In general, though, batteries are safe. Just don't handle battery acid, and you should be fine.

I had no idea that cadmium was toxic! I have some cadmium yellow acrylic paint that I use often, and I've gotten it on my fingers several times. I am now scared that I may have been poisoning myself a little bit.

I'm also a little freaked out about the cadmium in batteries. Can you absorb it just by handling the exterior of a battery while replacing one? If so, then I am going to start wearing gloves while touching batteries!

I suppose that I could be wearing disposable gloves while using cadmium paint, too. I will start protecting myself, now that I know how dangerous cadmium can be.