Pulmonary and gastrointestinal exposure to cadmium oxide dust in a battery factory

The elimination of cadmium in feces was studied in a group of 15 male workers exposed to cadmium oxide dust in a nickel-cadmium battery factory. The elimination of cadmium in feces was on the average 619 and 268 microgram/day in seven smokers and eight nonsmokers, respectively. The corresponding ranges were 97-2577 and 31-1102 microgram/day. The cadmium concentrations in blood were significantly higher in smokers than in nonsmokers, both before and after one month of vacation. Among the smokers there was a significant decrease in the cadmium concentrations during the vacation period, but not among the nonsmokers. It was estimated that cadmium naturally occurring in food and cigarettes, cadmium excreted from the gastrointestinal tract, and cadmium transported from the lungs by mucocillary clearance to the gastrointestinal tract only could explain up to 100 microgram of the cadmium in the feces. Since even among some nonsmokers much higher values for fecal cadmium were recorded, this was interpreted as being the result of ingestion of cadmium from contaminated hands and other body surfaces. Among the smokers, direct oral contact with contaminated cigarettes or pipes is an additional factor; the smokers also inhale cadmium in the tobacco smoke from contaminated cigarettes. Part of that cadmium is transferred to the gastrointestinal tract by mucociliary clearance and also adds to the fecal cadmium.