Cadmium is found widely in the environment, with tobacco smoke the most important, single source of exposure in the general population.
Other
environmental sources of human exposure include fossil fuel combustion
and the incineration of municipal waste.
People with higher levels of cadmium in their urine -- evidence of
chronic exposure to the heavy metal found in industrial emissions and
tobacco smoke -- appear to be nearly 3.5 times more likely to die of
liver disease than those with lower levels, according to a study by
Johns Hopkins scientists.