The purpose of the study was to analyze on the basis of foreign literature the effects of the toxic action of cadmium on the process of embryonic and postnatal development of the child, which remain insufficiently studied. The consequences of cadmium effect on children remain insufficiently studied, although cadmium is a documented developmental toxicant. The studies show that the placenta is an important target tissue for cadmium toxic effects during pregnancy. The result of the accumulation of cadmium in the placenta is as follows: a decrease in the utero-placental circulation, changes in the integrity of cells of trophoblast and cell migration, a decrease in the synthesis and metabolism of placental hormones, disorder of the placental epigenetic regulation of cell growth, as well as immune and inflammatory signal transmission. The high level of cadmium in the placenta and umbilical cord blood can be a risk factor for deterioration of infants’ state and impact on the development of a child in the future. So far, only some aspects of the toxicokinetics of the placental cadmium and its adverse effect on intrauterine growth and development are known. The level of cadmium in the mother's serum during pregnancy is associated with the risk of premature birth. There are increasing evidence on connection between the effect of cadmium and unfavorable consequences of childbirth, as well as disorders of anthropometric indicators that differ in children of different gender. In the fetus of the female gender body weight at birth tends to decrease, the chest circumference had a tendency to decrease and these indicators corresponded to an increase in the level of cadmium in the mother’s blood. Cadmium acts as an immunotoxic agent from the very early age, even very low levels of cadmium exposure during pregnancy can lead to long-term detrimental consequences for the immune system of offspring and these effects, as well as others depend on the gender. Models to study the effect of cadmium at an early age on the development of diseases in more mature age are developed. The models in mice show that the effect of cadmium on the body leads to an increase in heart mass at birth and programs hypertension development in females in adulthood. Poisoning, which occurs at an early age (in utero and in early childhood), may have a strong influence on the risk of obesity and metabolic syndrome throughout life. The chronic prenatal effect of cadmium is associated with the late development of IQ in children, while prenatal influence of passive smoking has an increased risk of delaying cognitive development of infants aged 6 months. Early mortality from various diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular, respiratory, renal and neurological problems, correlated with intrauterine or early post-natal impact of metal. Conclusion. Cadmium is classified as a potential neurotoxicant, it reaches the brain in the early stages of the development of the fetus and is associated with behavioral and cognitive dysfunction, including bad learning memory in children of early and late childhood. The adverse consequences of the prenatal effect of cadmium for the development of the fetus and subsequent health of children have discovered a number of non-solved problems, the gender should be considered as a risk factor, since cadmium causes specific results that are veiled in mixed on gender investigations

Keywords: cadmium, toxic action, placenta, children, prenatal and postnatal periods

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