Il cadmio, un cancerogeno comprovato, ha contaminato alcuni degli alimenti più consumati in Francia. I medici mettono in guardia contro una “bomba a orologio per la salute pubblica”

This is neither a pesticide nor a so-called “forever chemical.” Yet it has massively contaminated the French population, especially children, through their diet. The situation has become so serious that private practice doctors have sounded the alarm about what they call a “public health time bomb”: cadmium. Less well-known than lead, mercury or arsenic, cadmium is a heavy metal classified as a proven human carcinogen. Present in phosphate fertilizers used in agriculture, it accumulates in soil and has contaminated some of the most widely consumed foods: breakfast cereals, bread, pasta and potatoes.

In a letter sent on Monday, June 2, to the prime minister and the ministers of health, agriculture and environment, the National Conference of Regional Unions of Private Practice Health Professionals (URPS-ML) expressed its “grave concern.” “Exposure to cadmium is a public health time bomb,” said Pascal Meyvaert, coordinator of the URPS-ML’s health and environment working group. “This is a public health emergency; it is our duty to alert the authorities to protect citizens. The government can no longer ignore this public health scourge!”

More than 16,000 scientific articles have documented the harmful effects of cadmium, which binds to bones and accumulates in the kidneys and liver. It has been linked to bone diseases such as osteoporosis, kidney disorders, reproductive problems and a heightened risk of cancers (kidney, lung, prostate, breast and more). One type of cancer “is of particular concern” to the medical community: pancreatic cancer. Doctors said they encountered this “frequently” in their offices.

Santé Publique France, the national public health agency, has, since 2021, warned about the connection with the skyrocketing rates of pancreatic cancer in France: “Cadmium is suspected of playing a role in the major and extremely troubling increase in [its] incidence.” The number of cases has more than quadrupled in 30 years, and two thirds are not linked to the aging population. According to the French National Society of Gastroenterology, pancreatic cancer will be the second-deadliest cancer in the years 2030-2040. France currently ranks fourth in the world for the number of new cases.

Cardiologist Pierre Souvet, president of the French Environmental Health Association, has studied the impact of cadmium for several years. Souvet also highlighted its harmful effects on the cardiovascular system. A meta-analysis published in 2024 in the journal Environmental Pollution showed a significant cardiovascular risk even at very low doses, with the likelihood of developing disorders nearly tripling as soon as the “critical concentration” threshold established by the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) is reached. Based solely on effects on bones, ANSES set this value in 2019 at 0.5 micrograms per gram (µg/g) of creatinine in urine. This benchmark was defined for a 60-year-old non-smoking adult (since tobacco is a source of exposure), as cadmium accumulates in the body over time.

**Read the full article at this link:** [https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2025/06/06/cadmium-a-proven-carcinogen-has-contaminated-some-of-the-most-consumed-foods-in-france-doctors-warn-against-a-public-health-time-bomb_6742083_114.html](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2025/06/06/cadmium-a-proven-carcinogen-has-contaminated-some-of-the-most-consumed-foods-in-france-doctors-warn-against-a-public-health-time-bomb_6742083_114.html)

“Fun facts”

Cadmium is a natural mineral that comes from volcanic earth. The wheat or vegetables grow there accumulate it over their lifetime till they get harvested and get processed.

Especially notable plants that contain cadmium are Cacao.

So if you want to avoid Cadmium, don’t eat chocolate.

In Europe, there is a limit to how much Cadmium is allowed to be inside chocolate, but this won’t prevent the accumulation over the years.

Vegetarian are prone to have higher cadmium accumulation because of their plant diet.

or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the carcinogens.

Agribusiness lobbies: hold my cadmium-laced beer

Wait I thought American food was chemical poison and European food was safe? Is no food safe anywhere?