@Jor: I think that your figures on cadmium toxicity are overrated. There still is controversy about the carcinogenic properties of cadmium. Many
studies about its carcinogenity are studies where exposure to the metal was combined with exposure to other compounds (e.g. arsenic or organic
partially pyrolysed compounds, such as in tobacco smoking). Of course, it is a toxic metal and it should be treated with respect, but if it really
were so toxic as many people want us to believe then we would be dead, all of us. In the recent past it was used in virtually every brightly colored
object, such as children's toys, crates for storing bottles of beer (Heineken and Grolsch), hard-plastic bags with colored logo's and so on. It is
good that the practice of using cadmium-compounds for coloring purposes is forbidden now, but the fact that it was used for this purpose and that most
of the people from that era still are alive in good health makes me believe that things are not as nasty as people want us to believe nowadays.
Also read this article on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadmium |