CADMIUM BIOAVAILABILITY AND HEALTH RISK IN FOOD

Cadmium (Cd) is a major occupational and environmental pollutant. Outside the industrial environment, the main route of human exposure is through food. Most oral toxicity studies have been performed with inorganic salts of Cd, but this is not the chemical form in which Cd occurs in the diet. For an assessment of human health risks it is of paramount importance to obtain more information about the bioavailability and toxicity of different Cd complexes found in the diet.