[4] Cadmium is toxic to humans and other animals in very small amounts, especially when it is inhaled, which often happens when working with powdered pigment or breathing the dust from chalk pastels.

[5] The colorfastness or permanence of cadmium requires protection from the element's tendency to slowly form carbonate salts with exposure to air.

The cadmium pigments eventually replaced compounds such as mercury(II) sulfide (the original vermilion) with greatly improved lightfastness.

Cadmium pigments used in borosilicate have a relatively short history, with the first commercial formulations hitting the market in 2000 under the name Crayon Colors by Henry Grimmett of Glass Alchemy.

[10] Cadmium-compound-containing glass exhibits a characteristically low heat tolerance when melted, and therefore must be treated with caution when lampworking to avoid boiling off of the cadmium sulfide.

In a June 2015 article of Just Paint, published by Golden Artist Colors, the company argued against KEMI's proposal, offering that "There are no alternatives that match all of the characteristics of cadmium pigments."

This statement was also included in Golden's response to KEMI's request for information on cadmium-pigmented artists’ paints while the agency was composing its ban proposal.