 After the industrial scale production of cadmium started in the 1930s and 1940s , the major application of cadmium was the coating of iron and steel to prevent corrosion ; in 1944 , 62 % and in 1956 , 59 % of the cadmium in the United States was used for plating . In 1956 , 24 % of the cadmium in the United States was used for a second application in red , orange and yellow pigments from sulfides and <unk> of cadmium . 
