Cadmium in Soils and Plants, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1999
Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences Series, Vol. 85

Over forty years ago, concern was first focussed on cadmium contamination of soils, fertilisers and the food chain. Adverse effects on human health were first highlighted nearly 30 years ago in Japan with the outbreak of Itai-itai disease. Since then, substantial research data have accumulated for cadmium on chemistry in soils, additions to soils, uptake by plants, adverse effects on the soil biota and transfer through the food chain. However, this information has never been compiled into a single volume. This was the stimulus for the Kevin G. Tiller Memorial Symposium "Cadmium in Soils, Plants and the Food Chain", held at the University of California, Berkeley, in June 1997 as part of the Fourth International Conference on the Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements. This symposium brought together leading scientists in the field of cadmium behaviour in soils and plants, to review the scientific data in the literature and highlight gaps in our current knowledge of the subject. This series of review papers are presented here and deal with the chemistry of cadmium in soils, the potential for transfer through the food chain and management to minimise this problem. We hope this information provides a sound scientific basis to assist development of policies and regulations for controlling cadmium in the soil environment.

1. Cadmium in Soils and Plant.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Accumulation of cadmium in soils and plants.- 3. World fertiliser supply — cadmium issues.- 4. Re-use of waste materials — cadmium issues.- 2. The Environmental Chemistry of Cadmium.- 1. Basic chemical properties.- 2. Aqueous complexation.- 3. Abundance and form in natural environments.- 4. Cadmium concentrations in soils.- 5. Analytical approaches for cadmium speciation in the environment.- 6. Conclusions.- 3. Chemistry of Cadmium in Soil Solution.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Properties of cadmium.- 3. Cadmium in soil solution.- 4. Measured and calculated speciation of cadmium in soil solutions.- 5. Phenomena controlling the concentration of cadmium and zinc in soil solutions.- 6. Conclusions.- 4. Solid Phase Cadmium and the Reactions of Aqueous Cadmium with Soil Surface.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Solid phases.- 3. Adsorption-desorption processes.- 4. Conclusions.- 5. Anthropogenic Additions of Cadmium to Soils.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Cadmium concentrations in soils.- 3. Anthropogenic sources of cadmium.- 4. Conclusions.- 6. Mechanisms of Cadmium Uptake, Translocation and Deposition in Plants.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Availability of cadmium in soil.- 3. Uptake of cadmium by roots.- 4. Transport and deposition.- 5. Bioavailability of cadmium in plant foods.- 6. Conclusions.- 7. Management Factors which Influence Cadmium Concentrations in Crops.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Site selection.- 3. Crop selection and cultivar development.- 4. Fertiliser management.- 5. Soil pH and liming.- 6. Other soil amendments.- 7. Irrigation water quality.- 8. Phytoremediation.- 9. Other management factors.- 10. Conclusions.- 8. Adverse Effects of Cadmium on Soil Microflora and Fauna.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Data sources.- 3. Effects on microbes andmicrobial processes.- 4. Evidence from field experiments.- 5. Effects on earthworms.- 6. Other invertebrates.- 7. Comparison with Dutch soil quality values.- 8. Conclusions.- 9. Soil Cadmium as a Threat to Human Health.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Diagnosis of human cadmium toxicity.- 3. Interpretation of epidemiological survey data.- 4. Reducing cadmium levels in crops.- 5. Have crop cadmium levels increased over time?.- 6. Common errors in evaluation of plant absorption of soil cadmium.- 7. Livestock food-chains usually exclude cadmium effectively.- 8. High risk crops.- 9. Reducing food chain cadmium risk.- 10. Research on food-chain cadmium risk is still needed.- 11. Does ingested cadmium increase cancer risk?.- 12. Conclusions.- 10. Cadmium in Soils and Plants.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Cadmium in soils.- 3. Cadmium in plants.- 4. Adverse effects of cadmium on biota and human health.- 5. Knowledge gaps and research priorities.