Besides specific occupational activities or smoking, food is the main route of cadmium exposure for the general population. In France a total diet study previously conducted for adults and children over 3 years old revealed that health concerns due to Cd dietary exposure existed for both adults and children. This study showed that the Cd tolerable weekly intake, based on potential nephrotoxicity effects, is exceeded by a high proportion of children under 3 years old. Nephrotoxicity results from the accumulation of cadmium in the kidney and appears typically after long-term exposure (40–50 years). Despite the exceeding of the tolerable weekly intake observed during the first three years of childhood, due to low body weights compared to adults, the accumulation rate of cadmium is much lower during the whole childhood period (from 0 to 17 years of age) than during adulthood. These data suggest that dietary exposure to cadmium should be reduced for both children and adults to prevent health concerns associated with nephrotoxicity in later life. Moreover, recent literature suggests that Cd can induce other adverse health effects (especially endocrine disruption or neurotoxicity) that could be triggered at even lower doses than those triggering nephrotoxicity.

除了特定的职业活动或吸烟外，食物是普通人群接触镉的主要途径。在法国，以前对成人和3岁以上儿童进行的总饮食研究表明，成人和儿童均存在由于Cd饮食暴露而引起的健康问题。这项研究表明，由于潜在的肾毒性作用，每周3d以下的儿童中有很大一部分超过了Cd可耐受的每周摄入量。肾毒性是由于镉在肾脏中的积累而引起的，通常在长期暴露（40-50年）后出现。尽管在儿童的前三年中观察到的每周摄入量超过了可忍受的摄入量，但由于体重较成人低，在整个儿童时期（0至17岁），镉的积累率要比成年时期低得多。这些数据表明，儿童和成人都应减少饮食中镉的暴露，以防止与以后的肾毒性有关的健康问题。此外，最近的文献表明，镉还可以诱发其他不良健康影响（尤其是内分泌干扰或神经毒性），其剂量甚至可以低于引发肾毒性的剂量。