Personal Injury Law

Cadmium poisoning - your final defense

By Megan Roth

Cadmium's effects begin almost immediately after exposure. Though an individual may have overcome the cadmium blues, they will continue to suffer its effects in the form of bone loss, kidney failure, and respiratory problems (among other ailments).

Even when exposure to cadmium is identified, diagnosed early on, and treated in the best manner possible, its effects don't just disappear. Though the victim may have survived cadmium poisoning, his/her health will undoubtedly suffer long term effects - effects which often end up contributing to his/her death, in one way or another.

Though an individual may have overcome the cadmium blues - the flu-like symptoms that result from acute cadmium poisoning - they will continue to suffer its effects in the form of bone loss, kidney failure, and respiratory problems (among many other ailments).

Cadmium's effects on bones begin almost immediately after an individual is exposed to the toxin; as a result, it causes bones to deteriorate more quickly and quickens the onset of osteoporosis. Even low-level exposure, which occurs quite frequently through day-to-day activities and, is a risk factor for skeletal diseases.

Cadmium is also a risk factor for kidney disease; exposure to the toxin shrinks the kidneys by up to 30 percent, thus limiting their ability to function properly. As a result, many victims of cadmium poisoning often end up hospitalized for various causes, many of which result from kidney failure.

And what about your respiratory system? Bronchitis and whooping cough have nothing on cadmium poisoning. Again, exposure to the toxin breaks down your systems and correlates with acute respiratory fatality. Need we even mention the fact that, in high concentrations, cadmium leads to pulmonary edema and has been associated with alarmingly high developmental rates of lung and respiratory cancers.

And you may want to take certain toys away from your child (we recommend coming up with a seemingly-legit excuse first - there's no reason for undue tears!). Certain toys contain cadmium compounds which have been identified as a lead contributor to psychological disorders and damage to the central nervous system - both of which are treatable but irreversible.

Actually, none of the aforementioned ailments are reversible; the onset of any one of them leads to the breakdown of another system, which leads to the breakdown of another, and so on and so on. So, should cadmium exposure occur, contact your personal defense lawyer. Because, when all your systems are weakened in the end, he's going to be the only defense you've got.

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on May 05, 2008 (boomark / email).