This is the first book devoted to the toxicology of the widespread environmental contaminant, cadmium. Human exposure to low levels occur as a result of natural processes and human activity such as mining, smelting, fossil fuel combustion and industrial use. However, the possibility of more widespread contamination and greater mobility of cadmium in the environment on the one hand and the advent of new data concerning the carcinogenicity of cadmium on the other, make this a timely review of human risk identification and assessment. Also included are recent studies on human exposure to cadmium metabolism and toxicology, renal dysfunction and related effects as well as epidemiological evidence for the carcinogenicity of cadmium.