Name: Cadmium
Symbol: Cd
Atomic Number: 48
Atomic Mass: 112.411 amu
Melting Point: 320.9 °C (594.05 °K, 609.62 °F)
Boiling Point: 765.0 °C (1038.15 °K, 1409.0 °F)
Number of Protons/Electrons: 48
Number of Neutrons: 64
Classification: Transition Metal
Crystal Structure: Hexagonal
Density @ 293 K: 8.65 g/cm³
Color: Silvery

• Cadmium was discovered by Stromeyer in 1817 as an impurity in a zinc carbonate ore. Stromeyer noted the yellow color of a specific batch of cadmia and found cadmium as the contaminant.
• Cadmium itself is a soft bluish-white metal which is easily cut with a knife.
• Cadmium usually occurs in deposits with zinc, such as sphalerite, and is recovered by a roasting of the mixed ore. It is a by product of zinc refining.

• Cadmium is used in electroplating, and in the production of bearing alloys.
• The best known use of Cadmium is in NiCad rechargeable batteries though their disposal poses an environmental problem.
• Artists have long used the sulfide as a pigment – Cadmium Yellow.

• Cadmium is used as a barrier to control atomic fusion.
• The sulfide and selenide of cadmium have been used as phosphors in color television tubes.
• Most types of  food (traditional and market meats, vegetables, breads, dairy, etc.) contain some cadmium, but organs (livers and kidneys) have the highest levels.  
• Smoke from cigarettes contains cadmium and smokers have more cadmium in their blood than nonsmokers. 
• Long term exposure to high levels of cadmium can cause permanent kidney damage.
• Eating food or drinking water with very high cadmium levels severely irritates the stomach, leading to vomiting and diarrhea. The only people who have died from drinking cadmium are people who used cadmium to commit suicide.