Kidney, liver, hair and lungs as indicators of cadmium absorption.

Cadmium absorption in four human tissues, kidney, liver, hair and lungs was assayed and the intertissue correlations were determined. All the correlations were positive. The correlations of the kidney cadmium level and the levels in the other tissues were the weakest. The intertissue correlations besides being indicative of the physiological similarities between the tissues also suggest the existence of 1) a preferential scheme for the deposition of cadium from the recipient sites and 2) cadmium flow steady state. The kidney-liver and kidney-hair cadmium ratios were found to have exponential age associations.