Solid state ordinary (diamagnetic)
Density 8650 kg / m3
Melting point 594.22 K (321 ° C)
Boiling point 1041 K (768 ° C)
Enthalpy of vaporization 100 kJ / mol
Enthalpy of fusion 6.192 kJ / mol
Vapor pressure 14.8 Pa at 597 K
Cadmium is a heavy metal, its bluish-white color can be found throughout the earth's crust.
It has one of the most common oxidation states, +2. It can have the +1 oxidation state, but with a lot of instability.
It is not found in its pure state in nature. Cadmium by chemical affinity is associated with metals such as zinc, lead and copper.
Cadmium is linked in contamination with the zinc and lead industry. Cadmium emissions also occur, albeit to a lesser degree, from waste combustion, coal combustion, cement production, and the steel industry.
Cadmium is a chemical element with atomic number 48 located in group 12 of the periodic table of elements. Its symbol is Cd. It is a heavy, soft, bluish-white metal, relatively little abundant. It is one of the most toxic metals. It is usually found in zinc ores and is used especially in batteries.
Water:
In rivers, the concentration of dissolved cadmium is relatively high (10-500 mg / l), being generally bound to particulate matter.
In open ocean areas the concentration is between 0.5 and 10 mg / l; these levels may be higher in closed marine areas, especially at the mouths of rivers that are polluted.
Air:
In rural areas they are 0.1 mg. per m3 increasing up to 5 times in urban and industrial areas.
Land:
In soils, the average cadmium concentration is 0.06 to 0.5 mg. per kg. increasing up to a hundred times in contaminated areas.
In phosphate rocks the concentration increases from 0.3 to 38 grams per hectare / year. The persistence in soils is up to 300 years and 90% remains untransformed.
Note: These cadmium concentrations in the soil depend for the most part on the pH of the soil, which controls the solubility and mobility of the metal.