Food & Drink / Compounds / Cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanocrystals

Cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanocrystals in food: ingestion safety

High risk

GHS Danger classification. Toxic if swallowed.

What is cadmium selenide (cdse) nanocrystals?

The IUPAC name is selanylidenecadmium.

Also known as: selanylidenecadmium, CADMIUM SELENIDE, Cadmium selenide (CdSe), cadmium(II) selenide.

IUPAC name
selanylidenecadmium
CAS number
1306-24-7
Molecular formula
CdSe
Molecular weight
191.38 g/mol
SMILES
[Se]=[Cd]
PubChem CID
14784

Risk for people

High risk

GHS Danger classification. Toxic if swallowed.

Regulatory consensus

2 regulatory and scientific bodies have classified Cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanocrystals. The classifications differ — that's the data.

AgencyYearClassificationNotes
EPA CTX / Genetox—Genotoxicity: negative (Ames: negative, 0 positive / 1 negative reports)
EPA CTX / Genetox—Genotoxicity: negative (Ames: negative, 0 positive / 1 negative reports)

Regulators apply different standards of evidence — animal-data weighting, exposure-pattern assumptions, epidemiological power thresholds — which is why two scientific bodies can review the same data and reach different conclusions. The disagreement is the data.

Where you encounter cadmium selenide (cdse) nanocrystals

  • Contaminated Water — Mining site runoff, Industrial discharge, Old infrastructure
  • Food Chain — Fish from contaminated waters, Crops in contaminated soil

Safer alternatives

Lower-risk approaches that achieve a similar outcome to Cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanocrystals:

  • Exposure reduction (no chemical substitute)
    Trade-offs: Exposure reduction does not eliminate the hazard but lowers risk to acceptable levels when alternatives are not available or practical. Requires ongoing monitoring and compliance.
    Relative cost: 1.2-2×

Frequently asked questions

Is cadmium selenide (cdse) nanocrystals safe for you?

GHS Danger classification. Toxic if swallowed.

What products contain cadmium selenide (cdse) nanocrystals?

Cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanocrystals appears in: Mining site runoff (Contaminated water); Industrial discharge (Contaminated water); Fish from contaminated waters (Food chain); Crops in contaminated soil (Food chain).

See Cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanocrystals in the food app

Look up products containing cadmium selenide (cdse) nanocrystals, compare to alternatives, and explore the full data record.

Open in food View raw API data

Sources (3)
  1. PubChem Compound CID 14784 — database
  2. EPA CompTox Chemicals Dashboard — DTXSID1061651 — epa
  3. ATSDR Toxicological Profile — CAS 1306-24-7 — reference

Reference data, not professional advice. Aggregates publicly available regulatory and scientific data; not a substitute for veterinary, medical, legal, or regulatory advice. Why we built ALETHEIA →