Cadmium’s role in consumer products has fallen off the cliff as awareness of its toxic effects on body and environment have become more widely known. From cigarettes, to old paint and cheap toys cadmium’s signature looms has been targeted as another danger to avoid along with asbestos, assorted germs and junk food. But in the case of cadmium it’s a warning worth heeding. As an industrial contaminant it finds its way into the air we breathe and the foods we eat and even in microscopic amounts it harms every organ wherein it lodges and at some unknowable threshold it has a good chance of precipitating cancer.

Thankfully, as relevant to the majority of Luciteria’s customers, simply having a piece of the metal sitting around doesn’t spell much of a threat. Even holding cadmium with your bare hands is acceptable if you can bear washing up afterwards - the metal’s principal toxicity routes being ingestion and inhalation.