cadmium

One of the toxic heavy metal which has caused deaths and permanent illnesses in a series of major pollution incidents around the world. Cadmium has no useful biological purpose. However, it has wide industrial applications. It has been used for decades in metal plating to prevent corrosion, in rechargeable batteries and as a pigment in certain plastics and paints. Special care is taken in the industrial smelting of ores and subsequent handling of cadmium, because occupational exposure is known to have caused heart, chest and kidney disorders. Environmental health problems have come from exposure to various sources of pollution. (Source: WRIGHT)