Cadmium Levels in Kidney Cortex in Swedish Farmers

The cadmium levels in kidney cortex (K-Cd) did not differ statistically between 10 nonsmoking farmers from the south of Sweden, who had a high intake of locally produced food and who were affected by acid precipitation (as indicated by low pH in the drinking water from their private wells) and 10 farmers less affected (medians: K-Cd, 18 vs 14 μg/g; water pH, 5.2 vs 7.8). Neither did 10 farmers selected because of “high” blood cadmium (B-Cd) differ from 10 with “low” [medians: K-Cd, 15 vs 9 μg/g; B-Cd, 2.6 vs 1.3 nmol/L (0.29 vs 0.14 μg/L)]. In all 40 farmers, there was an increase of urinary cadmium levels (U-Cd) with decreasing drinking water pH (rs=−0.32, P=0.045). Further, K-Cd increased with rising B-Cd (rs=0.33, P=0.037), and both B-Cd (rs=0.73, P=0.0005), and U-Cd (rs=0.74, P=0.0005) rose with increasing age. Further, there was an association between U-Cd and B-Cd (rs=0.68, P=0.0005). We could not demonstrate with certainty any effect of the acid precipitation on the cadmium retention in the farmers, although the association between U-Cd and drinking water pH deserves further study.