Influence of several chelating agents on the distribution and binding of cadmium in rats

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with 109CdCl2 (3 mumol Cd/kg) and killed between 1 h and 200 d afterwards. Metal concentration in the critical organs, i.e. liver and kidneys decreased very slowly. Within the cells Cd is found mainly in the cytosol and--at very early times--in the nuclei. Within the cytosol of the liver most of the metal is initially bound to proteins with high molecular weight but as early as 3 h after incorporation more than 90% is bound to metallothionein which is always the main binding site in the kidneys. Of the chelating agents tested only BAL and Puchel were able to reduce the body burden significantly. Both are lipophilic substances. Puchel cannot reduce the kidney Cd burden but removes Cd from the liver only while BAL is effective in both organs. Both chelating agents exert their effects at doses which are too near to the LD50 to be considered as safe enough for human use.