Cadmium Pollution in the Tourism Environment: A Literature Review

Abstract

Cadmium is a highly-toxic metal, and, its environmental occurrence and human exposure consequently deserve close attention. The insight into the relationships between cadmium and tourism relations has deepened during the past three decades and the research into this relationship is reviewed. For this purpose, 83 relevant publications (mainly articles in international journals) were analyzed. It was found that investigation of Cd in the tourism environment took place in all continents (except Antarctica) and has intensified since the mid-2000s; Chinese researchers are the most active contributors. The Cd occurrence in air, living organisms, sediments, soil, suspended particular matter, water, and of the human environment has been studied. It has become clear that tourism contributes to Cd pollution (particularly, by hotel wastewater and increased traffic), and, vice versa, Cd pollution of beaches, coastal waters, food, urban parks, etc. creates risks for tourists and increases human exposure to this toxic metal. Both mechanisms have received equal attention. Examples concern many places worldwide, with the Mediterranean and Central and Eastern Europe as apparently critical regions. Our significantly incomplete knowledge of the relationships between cadmium and tourism must be ascribed to the common oversimplification of these relationships and to the scarcity or even absence of information supplied by the most important tourist destinations. The present review demonstrates that more studies of heavy metals and, particularly, Cd in the tourism environment are needed.

Ameliorative Effects of Exogenous Proline on Photosynthetic Attributes, Nutrients Uptake, and Oxidative Stresses under Cadmium in Pigeon Pea (Cajanus cajan L.)

“…Plants, due to being sessile and directly dependent on the soil, frequently experience the harmful effects of these heavy metals [5]. Among the heavy metals, cadmium is a highly toxic, non-degradable pollutant that significantly impacts living organisms [6][7][8]. It is discharged into the environment from metalworking industries, power stations, heating systems, and urban traffic [2,9].…”

Effect of Maritime Traffic on Water Quality Parameters in Santa Marta, Colombia

“…These findings support the proposed model as a valuable tool to be used by monitoring programs assessing environmental quality parameters of coastal waters under the influence of maritime traffic. Moreover, the proposed indicator is specifically recommended to be used in areas with high heterogeneity in the types of vessels, as is often seen in Latin American coastal areas [8].…”

“…However, at the same time, maritime traffic (MT) is negatively affecting marine environments [2,3]. In fact, ship and boat traffic produce water contamination by oil [4][5][6], toxic metals [7,8], and several antifouling biocides [9]. In addition, atmospheric emissions contributing to the greenhouse effect are also a relevant impact related to MT [10][11][12].…”

Effects of Landscape Features on the Roadside Soil Heavy Metal Distribution in a Tropical Area in Southwest China

“…Our results verified that there are many uncertainties to reveal the heavy metal variations within different road buffers. Further research needs to be undertaken in different habitat types and climatic regions in association with different road types and pollutants [15].…”

“…The road effect zone suffers from long-term accumulation of heavy metals, and these pollutants have an impact on the environment and nearby ecosystems. Some studies even focused on the relationships between cadmium pollution in view of tourism activities [15]. More studies have shown the contamination by these elements and the distribution of heavy metals in road dusts and soils [16][17][18].…”