Ultrastructural observations in hamster and rat lungs after chronic inhalation of cadmium compounds

Long-term inhalation of CdCl2 at concentrations as low as 12.6 micrograms Cd/m3 causes development of lung tumors in rats (4). No information, however, was available on the chronic carcinogenicity of CdO, CdS and CdSO4 which are especially relevant to the occupational area. In the present joint study of the Fh-ITA and the Fh-IUCT, rats and hamsters were exposed to CdCl2, CdSO4, CdO and CdS in a chronic inhalation carcinogenicity set-up (2, 3). The goal of the ultrastructural investigation was to compare inflammatory reactions and fibrotic lesions, as well as epithelial alterations occurring in the species under study. The present communication focusses especially on observations obtained from male and female hamsters and rats chronically exposed to CdO. In addition, we report preliminary results from a short-term inhalation study with CdO.