Cadmium Contamination of Vegetable Crops, Farmlands, and Irrigation Waters

The health risks posed by waste products and by the accumulation of certain metals, including cadmium, are of great concern to health agencies and researchers. Cadmium, an element identified in 1817 (Schwarz 1974), is present in nature in low concentrations and is normally bound to Zn, Pb, or Cu. High levels of Cd are associated with sources of industrial emission (Linder 1985; National Research Council 1989), and very steep increases in contamination by this metal have been documented during the 1980s and 1990s (FAO-WHO 1986; Robards and Worsfold 1991; Seiler and Sigel 1988). The extensive use of Cd in industry has lead to widespread contamination, which has mid- and long-term physiopathological effects on the human body.