Lung cancer and exposure to environmental cadmium

摘要

In this month's The Lancet Oncology, Nawrot and colleagues1 report an association between increased risk of lung cancer and exposure to environmental cadmium. This finding provides important positive input into the discussion on the role of exposure to environmental cadmium in the development of cancer in human beings. Absence of good epidemiological evidence has meant that cadmium could not be implicated fully as a human carcinogen; evidence for a firm association has come mainly from occupational studies. Occupational exposure to cadmium arises through inhalation, and environmental exposure usually occurs through consumption of food. However, Nawrot and colleagues postulate that human exposure to cadmium could also arise through inhalation of house dust.