Cadmium concentrations in human kidney in the UK: 1978-1993

Almost 2700 samples of human renal cortex have been collected from througho ut the UK over a 16 year period from 1978 to 1993. The mean Cd concentratio n was 19 mu g g(-1) and the median 16 mu g g(-1). Smokers were, on average. about 5 mu g g(-1) higher than non-smokers. Cd increased from low concentr ation in the young to a maximum of 23 mu g g(-1) in middle age followed by a decrease in old age. Subjects who had died of renal disease had lower Cd concentrations. Geographical variations in the UK are small and the concent rations appear to be static over the 16 year period. Some 3.9% of the popul ation had Cd concentrations > 50 mu g g(-1), the critical level at which be ta 2-microglobulin appears in urine.