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Cadmium: Social and political problems

What problems does it cause between people, and who carries them?

No armed conflict was found. Itai-itai victims in Japan won lawsuits against Mitsui Mining in 1971 and 1972. Later fights covered cadmium rice in Hunan, sick battery workers in China, and EU rules on batteries and solar panels.

Last updated 3 October 2026.

Conflict and disputes

No armed conflict over cadmium was found. We searched the USGS yearbooks from 2006 to 2019 and the open web for wars, armed groups and sanctions linked to cadmium. The disputes are lawsuits, food scandals and fights over rules.

The best known is itai-itai disease in Toyama, Japan. In March 1968 victims filed the first suit for compensation against Mitsui Mining & Smelting, which ran the Kamioka mine upstream1. By July 1971, seven suits covering 182 cases had been filed1. In May 1968 the national government officially accepted a causal link between the disease and pollution from local mining and smelting2. The victims won in June 19711. Mitsui appealed and disputed that cadmium caused the disease. The appeal court upheld the verdict in August 197231. On 10 August 1972 the company signed an agreement with the victims’ organization. It covered compensation for patients, clean-up of the soil and prevention of further pollution3.

In China, a dispute broke out in May 2013. Food safety officials in Guangzhou found heavy cadmium contamination in eight of 18 samples of rice and rice products from Hunan4. The You county government said there was no heavy metal mining within 10 kilometres of the source of the rice. Dialogue Earth reported that many people called the pollution an open secret4.

Workers and communities

Battery workers have high exposures. WHO lists NiCd battery making, cadmium refining, pigment making and zinc smelting among the jobs with the highest potential exposure5. In 2004, tests found high blood cadmium in at least 400 workers at four Gold Peak battery factories in southern China. The Pulitzer Center reported the results6. Workers who left were offered about $400 to $1,000, depending on their illness and pay6. In 2005 about 300 of them sued for about $31,000 each. The court denied the claims. It found that their condition had not reached the national level for cadmium poisoning6. A company director said in writing that health checks before 2004 had found nothing abnormal6. He also said that tests for cadmium in blood or urine were not available in southern China before 2004. Workers disputed that claim6.

E-waste recycling adds exposure. WHO says informal recycling exposes children to metals including cadmium7. In Guiyu, China, the authors of a study cited by WHO linked cadmium to lower birth weight and length7.

In Toyama, 196 people were certified with itai-itai disease from 1967 to the end of 2011, and 336 more were placed under observation8. New cases appear long after exposure: 20 were recognized as recently as 20009. Nippon.com reported in 2018 that close to 400 patients need treatment or monitoring for other cadmium effects, such as kidney damage2.

Who gains and who loses

Yoshida and co-authors put Mitsui’s payments for itai-itai disease from 1972 to 1997 at ¥36.5 billion3. The total includes all the items of the 1972 agreement. Patients received ¥7.5 billion, and farmers ¥11.8 billion for lost rice crops. Soil clean-up cost the company ¥4.9 billion and pollution control at the mine ¥12.0 billion3. The company still pays patients under the 1972 promissory letters8.

Under the agreement, the polluter pays the whole cost of the soil measures. The authors judged that Mitsui paid only about 26% to 27% of it3. They wrote that national and local governments paid subsidies in its place3. The government bought rice with 0.4 to 1.0 ppm cadmium3. Restoring 1,686 hectares of paddy was finished in March 201210. In a 2023 study, Sakurai and co-authors found that the restoration reduced residents’ cadmium exposure11.

In China, rice farmers lost. Hunan grows 11% to 15% of China’s rice12. After the 2013 scandal, rice producers and millers in Hunan said that their sales had fallen to almost half, FoodNavigator reported12. In a 2014 national survey, cadmium was above the standard at 7.0% of soil sample points13.

Some producers gave up the metal. In 2019 Young Poong of South Korea closed its cadmium plant at the Seokpo smelter, to remove a source of contamination14.

Public debate

The EU argued for years about NiCd batteries in cordless power tools. In its 2012 impact assessment, the European Commission recorded both sides. Many industrial firms opposed ending the exemption and said the data did not justify it. Others pointed to the higher cost of lithium-ion. Some member states supported ending it and saw small costs and large health and environmental benefits15. Directive 2013/56/EU ended the exemption after 31 December 2016, because nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion substitutes were available16. Bosch, a power-tool maker, said that 74% of cordless power tools sold in 2012 used lithium-ion batteries17.

Artists’ paints were argued over too. In December 2013 Sweden proposed an EU ban on cadmium pigments in them. It said the cadmium could reach sewage sludge spread on food crops. Artists signed a petition and said there were no alternatives. In October 2015 the EU dropped the proposal and judged the cadmium from paints negligible18.

Cadmium in solar panels

The EU restriction on hazardous substances in electronics (RoHS) took effect on 1 July 2006 and limits cadmium19. When it was revised in 2010, some groups asked for it to cover solar panels, which would have hit cadmium telluride panels. The European Parliament voted with 640 votes for a text that left out all renewable energy technologies, pv magazine reported20. The 2011 directive excludes panels installed by professionals for permanent use at a fixed site21.

The sides blamed each other. The Non-Toxic Solar Alliance (NTSA) pushed for the ban and commissioned studies on cadmium’s dangers20. First Solar, a US maker of CdTe panels, suspected that rivals were attacking cheaper thin-film panels. The NTSA denied that large solar companies funded it20. For the safety of its panels, First Solar pointed to studies by Brookhaven National Laboratory20. It said it spent €100,000 to €150,000 on lobbying in 200920.

Trade disputes

In 2018 the US Trade Representative found China’s practices on technology transfer and intellectual property unreasonable and discriminatory14. A 10% duty on Chinese goods, cadmium products included, began in September 2018 and rose to 25% from May 201914. China challenged the duties at the World Trade Organization (WTO). It claimed that they broke the WTO tariff rules22. The United States said the duties were needed to protect US public morals. It argued that China’s practices amounted to theft of US technology and trade secrets22. In September 2020 a WTO panel found the duties at first sight inconsistent with the rules, because they applied only to goods from China22. The United States appealed in October 202022. From February 2025 China required licences to export cadmium tellurides. It gave national security and non-proliferation as the reasons23.

Sources

  1. 1

    Toyama Prefectural Itai-itai Disease Museum, 2026. Itai-itai disease: chronology .

    Dates of the first reports, the cadmium theory, the lawsuits and the land restoration.

    • March The first suit requesting compensation by Mitsui Mining & Smelting Company to the victims was filed
    • From then until July 1971, seven lawsuits (182 cases) were filed
    • 1971 June At the first trial, the victims won the case, and Mitsui Mining & Smelting Company appealed
    • 1972 August At the second trial, the victims won the case completely
  2. 2

    Nippon.com, 2018. Has Japan Learned the Lessons of Past Pollution Crises? .

    The 1968 government acknowledgement; certified victims and other patients.

    • it was not until May 1968, a full 22 years later, that the Japanese government officially acknowledged a causal link between itai-itai disease and industrial pollution from local mining and smelting operations
    • there are close to 400 patients who require treatment or monitoring for other effects of cadmium toxicity, such as kidney damage
  3. 3

    F. Yoshida, A. Hata and H. Tonegawa (Environmental Economics and Policy Studies 2: 215-229), 1999. Itai-Itai disease and the countermeasures against cadmium pollution by the Kamioka mine .

    Lawsuits, the 1972 agreement, compensation paid by Mitsui to 1997, and the authors' estimate of the company's share of the burden.

    • Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co. appealed the decision to the Nagoya High Court and disputed the causality, the verdict for the victims was upheld
    • On August 10, 1972 Mitsui Mining and Smelting made an agreement with the victims’ organization with regard to the following items: (1) compensation for Itai-Itai disease victims; (2) clean-up of soil pollution; and (3) prevention of further pollution
    • From 1972 to 1997, the monies paid out by Mitsui Company to compensate for the injuries incurred by Itai-Itai disease totaled ¥36.5 billion
    • and ¥7.5 billion in total
    • ¥4.9 billion altogether
    • amounted to ¥11.8 billion altogether
    • for a grand total of¥12.0 billion
    • the principle in the agreement that … the polluter pays the total amount of expenses necessary for the measures … undertaken … has not been adhered to
    • Mitsui Mining and Smelting has been able to escape with an overall burden-bearing ratio of approximately 26%-27%
    • the central government and the local authorities (both town and prefecture) have provided a subsidy
    • rice contaminated by cadmium to levels of 0.4-1.0ppm was purchased by the government
  4. 4

    He Guangwei, Dialogue Earth (then China Dialogue), 2014. Special report: the legacy of Hunan's polluted soils .

    The 2013 Guangzhou rice tests, the You county denial and earlier poisoning in Hunan.

    • of 18 samples of rice and rice products from Hunan Province, eight were heavily contaminated with cadmium
    • there was no heavy metal mining within 10 kilometers of the source of the problem rice, but many say the pollution has been an open secret for years
  5. 5

    World Health Organization, 2019. Exposure to cadmium: a major public health concern .

    Sources of exposure, health effects, WHO guideline values and the IARC classification.

    • the highest potential occupational exposures occur in cadmium production and refining, nickel-cadmium battery manufacture, cadmium pigment manufacture
  6. 6

    Loretta Tofani, Pulitzer Center, 2007. China: Powerless to Fight the Poison .

    Cadmium poisoning of workers at Gold Peak battery factories; the lawsuits and the company's statement.

    • In 2004, tests showed Liu and at least 400 other workers in the four factories were suffering from much higher than normal levels of cadmium in their blood
    • compensation of about $400 to $1,000 depending on the severity of their illness
    • In 2005, about 300 former Gold Peak workers filed civil suits in Huizhou, seeking compensation of about $31,000 each. The court denied the workers’ claims, finding their conditions
    • had not reached the nationally recognized level that qualifies as cadmium poisoning
    • annual health checks [of workers] before 2004 did not reveal any abnormality
    • Prior to 2004, blood or urine tests to detect cadmium were unavailable in southern China, Hui said, although workers disputed that claim
  7. 7

    World Health Organization, 2021. Children and digital dumpsites: e-waste exposure and child health .

    Exposure of children and women to metals, including cadmium, in informal e-waste recycling.

    • exposes children to a range of hazardous compounds, including heavy metals such as mercury, lead and cadmium
    • Cadmium negatively correlated with both neonatal weight and length
  8. 8

    Toyama Prefectural Itai-itai Disease Museum, 2026. Itai-itai disease: certification and relief .

    Certified patients and people under observation to the end of 2011; reparations under the 1972 pledges.

    • Since the first victim was officially recognized in 1967 to the end of 2011, 196 people were certified with the disease
    • 336 people have been determined to require observation
    • Mitsui Mining & Smelting Company pays reparations in accordance with the promissory letters
  9. 9

    M. Nishijo and others (BMJ Open), 2017. Causes of death in patients with Itai-itai disease suffering from severe chronic cadmium poisoning: a nested case-control analysis , Introduction.

    The 1967 to 1968 survey in the Jinzu River basin.

    • As recently as 2000, 20 new cases (1 man and 19 women) were officially recognised by the local government of Toyama
  10. 10

    Toyama Prefectural Itai-itai Disease Museum, 2026. Itai-itai disease: restoration of polluted farmland .

    Restoration of 1,686.2 hectares, finished in March 2012.

    • though the targeted area was very large and reached 1,686.2ha … completed the work by March of 2012
  11. 11

    M. Sakurai and others (Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine), 2023. Cadmium body burden and health effects after restoration of cadmium-polluted soils in cadmium-polluted areas in the Jinzu River basin , Abstract.

    Soil restoration reduced residents' cadmium exposure.

    • soil restoration in Cd-polluted areas reduced the Cd exposure of local residents
  12. 12

    R.J. Whitehead, FoodNavigator, 2013. China finally looking to act on cadmium rice scandal .

    Hunan's share of China's rice and the fall in rice sales after the scandal.

    • Hunan province contributes between 11-15% of China’s annual rice production
    • rice sales have plunged to almost half of what they were before
  13. 13

    China Ministry of Environmental Protection and Ministry of Land and Resources, 2014. 全国土壤污染状况调查公报 (Bulletin of the national soil pollution survey) .

    Survey from April 2005 to December 2013; cadmium exceeded the standard at 7.0% of sample points.

    • 镉、汞、砷、铜、铅、铬、锌、镍8种无机污染物点位超标率分别为7.0%
  14. 14

    R.M. Callaghan, U.S. Geological Survey, 2024. Cadmium, in 2019 Minerals Yearbook (advance release) , pp. 15.1-15.4.

    Uses, trade, consumers, China's pollution campaign and the outlook.

    • Young Poong Corp. closed its cadmium plant at its Seokpo smelter in June to eliminate all possible sources of cadmium contamination
    • The USTR found China’s acts, policies, and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation were unreasonable and discriminatory
    • an additional 10% import duty in late September 2018, increasing the tariff to 25% starting January 1, 2019. However, the implementation was delayed until May 10, 2019
    • The increased tariff list included cadmium oxide, cadmium sulfide, unwrought cadmium and powder
  15. 15

    European Commission, 2012. Impact assessment accompanying the proposal amending Directive 2006/66/EC (SWD(2012) 66 final) .

    Positions of industry and member states on ending the power-tool exemption for NiCd batteries.

    • Many industrial actors opposed withdrawal of the exemption and underlined that the data available on economic, environmental and social impacts do not justify withdrawal
    • higher cost of Li-ion technology compared to NiCd technology
    • economic costs as minimal and the environmental and health benefits as substantial
  16. 16

    European Parliament and Council of the EU, 2013. Directive 2013/56/EU amending Directive 2006/66/EC (recitals) , Recitals 3 and 4.

    Ends the power-tool exemption after 31 December 2016.

    • because suitable cadmium-free substitutes for such applications are available on the market, namely nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion battery technologies
    • until 31 December 2016
  17. 17

    A.C. Tolcin, U.S. Geological Survey, 2015. Cadmium, in 2013 Minerals Yearbook (advance release) , Consumption; Outlook.

    Lithium-ion share of Bosch cordless tools; the 2013 EU vote on NiCd batteries in power tools.

    • 74% of cordless power tools sold in 2012 were powered by lithium-ion batteries compared with 26% in 2007
  18. 18

    U.S. Geological Survey, 2018. Cadmium, in 2016 Minerals Yearbook (advance release) , Consumption, Pigments.

    Sweden's proposal to ban cadmium pigments in artists' paints and its withdrawal in 2015.

    • based on the claim that cadmium compounds could be released into waste water
    • artists in Europe signed a petition against the ban citing that there were no alternatives
    • the amount of cadmium from artists’ paints in food crop soil was negligible
  19. 19

    A.C. Tolcin, U.S. Geological Survey, 2008. Cadmium, in 2006 Minerals Yearbook .

    The EU RoHS directive took effect on 1 July 2006.

    • effect on July 1, 2006. Adopted in February 2003, the RoHS directive prohibits manufacturers from incorporating heavy metals (cadmium, hexavalent chromium, lead, and mercury)
  20. 20

    pv magazine, 2010. Cadmium won't be banned under RoHS as lobbyists battle it out .

    The 2010 vote on RoHS and solar panels; positions of the Non-Toxic Solar Alliance and First Solar.

    • The European Parliament decided with 640 votes
    • all renewable energy technologies from the new rules
    • The NTSA intervened massively on behalf of the extension of the cadmium ban to the PV industry
    • studies were commissioned that demonstrated the dangerousness of cadmium
    • First Solar has always suspected behind the NSTA’s actions the targeted attacks of rivals on low-cost thin film competition
    • The NTSA itself continually denies reports that it is financed by large solar companies
    • As arguments for the safety of cadmium telluride module, First Solar points to counter-checked studies of Brookhaven National Laboratory
    • First Solar confesses to have in 2009 given out between €100,000 and €150,000 for lobbying purposes
  21. 21

    European Parliament and Council of the EU, 2011. Directive 2011/65/EU (RoHS 2), Article 2 , Article 2(4)(i).

    Excludes photovoltaic panels in professionally installed fixed systems.

    • photovoltaic panels intended to be used in a system that is designed, assembled and installed by professionals for permanent use at a defined location
  22. 22

    World Trade Organization, 2020. DS543: United States, Tariff Measures on Certain Goods from China , Summary of the dispute; Summary of key findings.

    China's challenge to the US Section 301 duties, the panel report of September 2020 and the US appeal.

    • China claimed that these additional duties were inconsistent with Articles I:1 and II:1(a) and (b) of the GATT 1994
    • the additional duties were justified under Article XX(a) of the GATT 1994, as measures necessary to protect US public morals
    • misappropriation of US technology, intellectual property, and commercial secrets
    • On 15 September 2020, the panel report was circulated to Members
    • prima facie inconsistent with Article I:1 of the GATT 1994 because they applied only to products from China
    • On 26 October 2020, the United States notified the DSB of its decision to appeal
  23. 23

    International Energy Agency, Policies database, 2025. Decision to implement export controls on tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, molybdenum and indium related items .

    China's Decision No. 10 of 2025 (4 February 2025): licences needed to export tellurium, cadmium telluride, cadmium zinc telluride and cadmium mercury telluride.

    • tellurium compounds (cadmium telluride, cadmium zinc telluride, cadmium mercury telluride)
    • The aim is to safeguard national security and fulfill international non-proliferation obligations