 The stabilizing effect of cadmium chemicals like the <unk> cadmium <unk> and cadmium <unk> on PVC led to an increased use of those compounds in the 1970s and 1980s . The demand for cadmium in pigments , coatings , stabilizers , and alloys declined as a result of environmental and health regulations in the 1980s and 1990s ; in 2006 , only 7 % of to total cadmium consumption was used for plating , and only 10 % was used for pigments . At the same time , these decreases in consumption were compensated by a growing demand for cadmium for nickel @-@ cadmium batteries , which accounted for 81 % of the cadmium consumption in the United States in 2006 . 
