Semichronic oral toxicity of cadmium. I. Studies on rats

Cadmium (in the form of CdCl2) was fed to groups of 20 male and 20 female rats each over a period of 3 months in concentrations of 0, 1, 3, 10 and 30 ppm. Appearance, behaviour, food consumption, growth and mortality of the treated rats of all groups were not affected during the 3-month period. The cadmium concentrations did not cause blood, liver or kidney damage. The systolic blood pressure of the treated animals was not increased. Autopsies and histopathological investigation of the animals showed no sign of any alterations. Cadmium accumulated dose-dependently in the kerated by rats over a period of 3 months without harm.