Cadmium is widely distributed in the environment and is basically a non-essential element in cellular metabolism for most life forms. Both geogenic and anthropological sources contribute to cadmium emission and eventual contamination of soil and water. The elevated amounts of cadmium in various environmental resources such as drinking water pose a toxic threat to all the life forms that depend on these resources to sustain life. Cadmium contamination in groundwater is increasing at an alarming rate along with other more prevalent toxicants especially in underdeveloped countries. It is gradually entering our system by consuming contaminated food and water and is spreading in food chain. Along with various health hazards cadmium is basically a potent carcinogen. According to the guideline value recommended by the World Health Organization (2017) (WHO) the presence of 0.003 mg/l (ppm) of cadmium in drinking water is acceptable.

Adsorptive removal of cadmium has much been overshadowed by the conventional removal technique (precipitation/coagulation/floatation/membrane separation). Previous reviews have seldom focused on both available and developed sorption techniques for cadmium removal. A vast tabular representation has been representing the sorption capacities of various adsorbents. Cadmium remediation by both activated carbon and other low cost adsorbents has critically been surveyed. Various low cost adsorbents such as biosorbents along with modified activated carbon have shown sufficient high sorption capacity. Desorption techniques for sorbent regeneration after cadmium removal have also been discussed. Treatment of cadmium concentrate and disposal has also been addressed which is much less focused till date.

镉在环境中分布广泛，基本上是大多数生命形式细胞代谢中的非必需元素。地理来源和人类来源都会导致镉排放并最终污染土壤和水。饮用水等各种环境资源中镉含量升高，对依赖这些资源维持生命的所有生命形式构成有毒威胁。地下水中的镉污染与其他更普遍的有毒物质一起以惊人的速度增加，特别是在不发达国家。它通过食用受污染的食物和水逐渐进入我们的系统，并在食物链中传播。除了各种健康危害之外，镉基本上是一种强效致癌物。根据世界卫生组织 (2017) (WHO) 建议的指导值，饮用水中镉含量为 0.003 毫克/升 (ppm) 是可以接受的。

传统的去除技术（沉淀/混凝/浮选/膜分离）在很大程度上使吸附去除镉的效果黯然失色。以前的评论很少关注现有的和已开发的镉去除吸附技术。大量的表格表示了各种吸附剂的吸附能力。活性炭和其他低成本吸附剂对镉的修复已经得到了严格的研究。各种低成本吸附剂，例如生物吸附剂以及改性活性炭，已显示出足够高的吸附能力。还讨论了除镉后吸附剂再生的解吸技术。镉精矿的处理和处置也已得到解决，但迄今为止关注度要低得多。