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Cadmium compounds (as Cd)																				Related Pages
										May 1994
Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health Concentrations (IDLH)
**CAS number:** 7440–43–9 (Metal)
**NIOSH REL:** None established; NIOSH considers cadmium compounds to be potential occupational carcinogens as defined by the OSHA carcinogen policy [29 CFR 1990].
**Current OSHA PEL:** 0.005 mg/m3 TWA
**1989 OSHA PEL:** Same as current PEL
**1993-1994 ACGIH TLV:** 0.01 mg/m3 (total dust) TWA,
0.002 mg/m3 (respirable dust) TWA, A2
**Description of Substance:** Varies
**Original (SCP) IDLH for cadmium dust:** 50 mg Cd/m3
**Basis for original (SCP) IDLH:** Data on the dose-response relationship for cadmium are scarce and uncertain. Friberg et al. [1974] reported a rabbit 30-minute LC50 of about 8,000 mg-min/m3 (mg-min/m3 is the product of the concentration in mg/m3 and the exposure time in minutes); this represents a concentration of about 266 mg/m3 for 30 minutes. As serious irreversible renal cortical changes can precede death when renal cortical concentrations exceed 0.4 mg/g (tissue wet-weight), an IDLH of 50 mg/m3 is appropriate. This concentration would result in a human lung cadmium burden in 30 minutes of no more than 8 or 9 mg. This concentration is approximately that at which incipient morphologic changes occur in the kidneys of cadmium-exposed workers.
**Original (SCP) IDLH for Cadmium fume:** 9 mg Cd/m3
**Basis for original (SCP) IDLH:** The chosen IDLH is based on the statement by ACGIH [1971] that an exposure to 9 mg/m3 cadmium fume for 5 hours is a lethal dose [Beton et al. 1966]. AIHA [1962] reported that the lethal dose (single exposure) for man of thermally-generated cadmium oxide fume is not over 2,900 mg-min/m3 [Barrett and Card 1947] (mg-min/m3 is the product of the concentration in mg/m3 and the exposure time in minutes); this represents a concentration of about 50 mg/m3 for 1 hour. The concentration of 50 mg/m3 has not been chosen as the IDLH, however, because AIHA [1962] also reported that the doses which caused incapacitation must have been considerably lower [Barrett and Card 1947].
**Short-term exposure guidelines:** None developed
**ACUTE TOXICITY DATA**
**Lethal concentration data:**

**Species**
    **Reference**
    **LC50**
    **LCL0**
    **Time**
    **Adjusted 0.5-hr** **LC (CF)**
    **Derived** **value**Cd:Rat
    Yoshikawa and Homma 1974
    25 mg/m3
    -----
    30 min
    25 mg Cd/m3 (1.0)
    2.5 mg Cd/m3CdO:Rat RabbitG. pigDogRatMouseRabbitG. pigDog
    Barrett et al. 1947 Barrett et al. 1947Barrett et al. 1947Barrett et al. 1947Gates et al. 1946Gates et al. 1946Gates et al. 1946Gates et al. 1946Gekkan Yakuji 1980
    500 mg/m32,500 mg/m33,500 mg/m34,000 mg/m3780 mg/m3340 mg/m33,000 mg/m33,000 mg/m3400 mg/m3
    ---- --------------------------------
    10 min 10 min10 min10 min10 min10 min15 min15 min10 min
    304 mg Cd/m3 (0.69) 1,518 mg Cd/m3 (0.69)2,125 mg Cd/m3 (0.69)2,429 mg Cd/m3 (0.69)473 mg Cd/m3 (0.69)206 mg Cd/m3 (0.69)2,086 mg Cd/m3 (0.79)2,086 mg Cd/m3 (0.79)243 mg Cd/m3 (0.69)
    30 mg Cd/m3152 mg Cd/m3213 mg Cd/m3243 mg Cd/m347 mg Cd/m321 mg Cd/m3209 mg Cd/m3209 mg Cd/m324 mg Cd/m3
 **Lethal dose data:**
 
 **Species**
    **Reference**
    **Route**
    **LD50** **(mg/kg)**
    **LDLo** **(mg/kg)**
    **Adjusted LD**
    **Derived** **Value**Cd: RatMouse
    Kotsonis and Klaasen 1977 Tarasenko 1978
    oral oral
    225 890
    ----- -----
    1,575 mg/m36,230 mg/m3
    158 mg Cd/m3623 mg Cd/m3CdO: RatMouse
    Gekkan 1980 Tarasenko 1978
    oral oral
    72 72
    ----- -----
    444 mg/m3444 mg/m3
    44 mg Cd/m344 mg Cd/m3CdCl2: MouseRat
    Engstrom 1981 Lehman 1951
    oral oral
    60 88
    ----- -----
    689 mg/m3376 mg/m3
    69 mg Cd/m338 mg Cd/m3
 **Other animal data:** A rabbit 30-minute LC50 of about 8,000 mg-min/m3 for cadmium dust has been reported [Friberg et al. 1974], which is equivalent to about 250 mg Cd/m3 for 30 minutes.
 **Human data:** It has been reported that exposure to 9 mg/m3 of cadmium fume for 5 hours is a lethal dose [Beton et al. 1966]. Fatalities have resulted from exposures to concentrations estimated to be 40 to 50 mg/m3 for 1 hour [Barrett and Card 1947; Bulmer et al. 1938; Reinl 1961]. The lethal dose of thermally generated cadmium oxide fume of not more than 2,900 mg-min/m3 has been reported [Barrett and Card 1947], which is equivalent to about 85 mg Cd/m3 for 30 minutes. It has been reported that 39 mg Cd/m3 was a fatal exposure after 20 minutes [Zavon and Meadows 1970].
 
 **Revised IDLH:** 9 mg Cd/m3**Basis for revised IDLH:** Based on acute inhalation toxicity data in workers [Barrett and Card 1947; Beton et al. 1966; Bulmer et al. 1938; Reinl 1961; Zavon and Meadows 1970], the revised IDLH for cadmium compounds is 9 mg Cd/m3 which was the original IDLH for cadmium fume. [Note: NIOSH recommends as part of its carcinogen policy that the "most protective" respirators be worn for cadmium compounds at any detectable concentration.]
**REFERENCES:**
1. ACGIH [1971]. Cadmium and compounds (as Cd). In: Documentation of the threshold limit values for substances in workroom air. 3rd ed. Cincinnati, OH: American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, pp. 35-36.
2. AIHA [1962]. Cadmium (revised 1962). In: Hygienic guide series. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J *23*:518-521.
3. Barrett HM, Card BY [1947]. Studies on the toxicity of inhaled cadmium. II. The acute lethal dose of cadmium oxide for man. J Ind Hyg Toxicol *29*(5):286-293.
4. Barrett HM, Irwin DA, Semmons E [1947]. Studies on the toxicity of inhaled cadmium. I. The acute toxicity of cadmium oxide by inhalation. J Ind Hyg Toxicol *29*(5):279-285.
5. Beton DC, Andrews GS, Davies HJ, Howells L, Smith GF [1966]. Acute cadmium fume poisoning: five cases with one death from renal necrosis. Br J Ind Med *23*:292-301.
6. Bulmer FMR, Rothwell NF, Frankish ER [1938]. Industrial cadmium poisoning, a report of fifteen cases, including two deaths. Can J Public Health *29*:19.
7. Engstrom B [1981]. Influence of chelating agents on toxicity and distribution of cadmium among proteins of mouse liver and kidney following oral or subcutaneous exposure. Acta Pharmacol Toxicol *48*:108-117.
8. Friberg L, Piscator M, Nordberg GF, Kjellstrom T [1974]. Cadmium in the environment. 2nd ed. Cleveland, OH: CRC Press, p. 94.
9. Gates M, Williams J, Zapp JA [1946]. Arsenicals. In: Summary technical report of Division 9, NRDC. Vol. 1. Chemical warfare agents, and related chemical problems. Part 1. Washington, DC: Office of Scientific Research and Development, National Defense Research Committee, pp. 173-178.
10. Gekkan Yakuji (Pharmaceuticals Monthly) [1980]; *22*:455-457 (in Japanese).
11. Kotsonis FN, Klaassen CD [1977]. Toxicity and distribution of cadmium administered to rats at sublethal doses. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol *41*:667-680.
12. Lehman AJ [1951]. Chemicals in foods: a report to the Association of Food and Drug Officials on current developments. Part II. Pesticides. Q Bulletin Assoc Food Drug Off U.S. *15*(4):122-125.
13. Reinl W [1961]. Arch Toxicol *19*:1952. [From ACGIH [1991]. Cadmium and compounds. In: Documentation of the threshold limit values and biological exposure indices. 6th ed. Cincinnati, OH: American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, pp. 190-194. Cited by Teisinger et al. [1969] from Documentation of MAC in Czechoslovakia, Prague (1969).]
14. Tarasenko NY, ed. [1978]. Aktual’nye Problemy Gigieny Truda (Current Problems of Labor Hygiene) Moscow: Pervyi Moskovski Meditsinskii Institute, p. 14 (in Russian).
15. Yoshikawa H, Homma K [1974]. Toxicity of inhaled metallic cadmium fumes in rats. Sangyo Igaku (Japanese Journal of Industrial Health) *16*:212-215 (in Japanese).
16. Zavon MR, Meadows CD [1970]. Vascular sequelae to cadmium fume exposure. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J *31*(2):180-182.

			
							
								Page last reviewed:  December 4, 2014						Content
							source: 	National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health NIOSH Publications & Products
Immediately Dangerous To Life or Health (IDLH) Values
Table of IDLH Values
Criteria for Determining IDLH Values
Historical Documentation
Original (SCP) Values
Abbreviations for IDLH Documentation
Abbreviations for Journal Titles Follow NIOSH Facebook
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