ACCUMULATED ENVIRONMENTAL-IMPACT - THE CASE OF CADMIUM IN SWEDEN

In this study, the total flows of cadmium in Sweden in the period 1940-1990 - based on trade statistics, the manufacture of goods and the persistence of products in the environment - have been calculated. The metal industry, the mining of zinc and lead ores and the manufacturing of phosphorus fertilizers have been the dominant sources of industrial cadmium emissions to the environment. The application of fertilizers has led to the depositing of significant amounts of cadmium on agricultural land. Consumption emissions have originated from the use of cadmium in various products, e.g. rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries, pigments, stabilizers in polyvinyl-chloride plastics and protective plating for metals. The total calculated emissions of cadmium in Sweden, from production and consumption, have, in the past, been approximately 1700 t. The accumulated amount of cadmium used, including cadmium in alloys and as impurities in zinc, is approximately 5000 t. The 'societal weathering rate' exceeded the natural rate more than 4 times in 1970, and the present rate (1990) of anthropogenic emissions is still higher than the natural release due to weathering.