Food & Drink / Compounds / Cadmium telluride (CdTe) nanocrystals

Cadmium telluride (CdTe) nanocrystals in food: ingestion safety

Moderate risk

GHS Warning classification. Harmful if swallowed.

What is cadmium telluride (cdte) nanocrystals?

The IUPAC name is tellanylidenecadmium.

Also known as: tellanylidenecadmium, Cadmium telluride, Cadmium telluride (CdTe), Irtran 6.

IUPAC name
tellanylidenecadmium
CAS number
1306-25-8
Molecular formula
CdTe
Molecular weight
240.0 g/mol
SMILES
[Cd]=[Te]
PubChem CID
91501

Risk for people

Moderate risk

GHS Warning classification. Harmful if swallowed.

Regulatory consensus

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

AgencyYearClassificationNotes
EPA CTX / Genetox—Genotoxicity: negative (Ames: negative, 0 positive / 3 negative reports)
EPA CTX / Genetox—Genotoxicity: negative (Ames: negative, 0 positive / 3 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 telluride (cdte) 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 telluride (CdTe) 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 telluride (cdte) nanocrystals safe for you?

GHS Warning classification. Harmful if swallowed.

What products contain cadmium telluride (cdte) nanocrystals?

Cadmium telluride (CdTe) 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 telluride (CdTe) nanocrystals in the food app

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

Open in food View raw API data

Sources (3)
  1. PubChem Compound CID 91501 — database
  2. EPA CompTox Chemicals Dashboard — DTXSID0030950 — epa
  3. ATSDR Toxicological Profile — CAS 1306-25-8 — 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 →