Abstract

Heavy metals including cadmium, mercury, lead, aluminum, arsenic and many more always remain a serious threat to human health but despite of this fact their use is still continuous. Various cadmium compounds are used in different products of daily use like cadmium compounds in PVC products (as stabilizers), color pigments, several alloys etc. Different waste as well as useful materials like phosphate fertilizers to farmland are causing the contamination of soils with cadmium. As a result of this cadmium contamination there is an increase uptake of cadmium by plants (Fruits and vegetables etc) used by humans. Furthermore sewage sludge to farmland and low pH of soils enhances uptake of cadmium by soils ultimately increasing cadmium load of crops and vegetables. Cadmium affects/damages kidneys resulting dysfunction of tubules of kidneys. By using Ellman’s modified method the interaction of CNT (Cadmium Nitrate Tetrahydrate ) with human cytosolic-GSH and plasma-GSH was studied. It was recorded that cadmium nitrate tetrahydrate continuously depleted the plasma-GSH level as well as cytosolic-GSH level by its different concentrations and with the increase of incubation time which was probably due to oxidation of Glutathione (GSH) to its corresponding disulphide (GSSG) form or by GS-Cd-SG conjugate formation.