Cadmium, the environment and breast cancer
Published Jul 5, 2006
Cadmium is a soft silver-white metal naturally occurring in air, water and earth. It is a by-product of the smelting of zinc, lead and copper, and it is used mainly in smelting, electronics, paint pigmentation and nuclear power. So what does that mean to you?
Well, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in a published research plan, has a goal to determine the effects of cadmium on the endocrine systems of wildlife and humans. You can visit the EPA Web site to see what they hope to learn.
Basically, cadmium in air and groundwater may play a role in the development of breast cancer, as it mimics estradiol in human breast cancer cells. In plain words, cadmium, a heavy metal in the environment, increases the risk of breast cancer by stimulating estrogen receptors and encouraging the growth of cancer cells.
Heavy metals like cadmium do not dissolve or break down but build up over time. It is released into the air when waste, either household or industrial, is burned. Car exhaust also releases it into the air. Cadmium then settles in the soil or water.
The skin does not absorb cadmium, but it can enter the body via contaminated air, food, water or when a person smokes tobacco. Smokers are at greater risk of inhaling it, and nonsmokers from ingesting it. Soft water also may allow minute amounts of cadmium to get into drinking water from metal water lines.
I have a particular interest in this information. I grew up in a mining town, not too far from the smelting process, and I spent my childhood around smokers. I am encouraged that this information is coming to light. I think it is important to keep these studies in perspective; however, once informed we become the watchdogs for these issues. Obviously, this is one issue we want the EPA to continue to explore.