[A new method for quantitative measurement of the cadmium absorbed by chick embryos]

We attempted to determine the quantity of cadmium incorporated in hens eggs after immersion in cadmium solutions, and the cadmium concentration measured in embryos. We discussed equipment allowing simultaneous treatment of up to 42 samples, and called it " digestor ". It consisted of two gas-heated sand baths, two stands for cooling down solutions and an evacuation system for toxic vapours. Our method was based on wet mineralisation. It consisted of desintegrating experimental chick embryos in a HNO3/H2O2 mixed solution. After heating and evaporating, the quantity of cadmium in the remnant was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The reliability of such a technique was tested by studying as controls controls 17 days-old chick embryos injected with a known quantity of Cd(NO3). It showed no loss of cadmium. We also compared our procedure with a dry ashing method. The latter showed unacceptable losses and insufficient precision for the problems we wanted to investigate. Our method gave us much more precise results. The equipment we developed has functioned wholly satisfactorily and allowed us to investigate for instance cadmium distribution and concentration in embryonic organs of 17 days-old chicks. It could also be useful for researches concerning other biological samples analyzed for different heavy metals.