Cadmium
high levels of cadmium can severely damage the lungs and may cause death
1.5 How can cadmium affect my health?
The potential for cadmium to harm your health depends upon the form of cadmium present, the amount taken into your
body, and whether the cadmium is eaten or breathed. There are no known good effects from taking in cadmium.
Breathing air with very high levels of cadmium can severely damage the lungs and may cause death. Breathing air with
lower levels of cadmium over long periods of time (for years) results in a build-up of cadmium in the kidney, and if
sufficiently high, may result in kidney disease. Other effects that may occur after breathing cadmium for a long time are
lung damage and fragile bones.
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/phs5.html