Measurement of dietary cadmium absorption in humans

Total body counting was used to determine cadmium absorption in 14 healthy subjects and in 1 patient with an ileostomy. Breakfast was extrinsically tagged with 115mCdCl2, and a poorly absorbed marker, 51CrCl3, was added to determine the point of complete elimination of unabsorbed radiocadmium from the gastrointestinal tract. The 51Cr was not an ideal marker: fecal excretion of radiocadmium continued beyond the point at which chromium was completely eliminated from the body, Nevertheless, it was helpful in six subjects in identifying the presence of unabsorbed radiocadmium still in transit in the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract 3--5 wk after the test meal. The average body retention of radiocadmium determined between 7 and 14 d after the disappearance of the chromium marker from the body was 4.6 +/- 4.0% (SD), with a range of 0.7--15.6%. The biological half-time of absorbed radiocadmium in one of the subjects was 100 d.