The interaction between cadmium, mercury and zinc--administered subcutaneously in a single injection

The interaction between three heavy metals, cadmium, mercury and zinc was investigated. The metals were injected subcutaneously into the hind leg of male rats of approximately 200 g body weight in a volume of 0.2 ml either alone or in combination with another metal. It has been shown that interaction started at the site of injection, at which the retention of one metal was increased by the presence of the other over a 48 h period. Besides this local interaction, probably based on competition for a carrier compound, there were differences in distribution. Analysis of the data indicates that metals injected simultaneously can influence the distribution of each other and, although each of the studied metal is able to induce thionein, the observed interactions cannot be explained by a single mechanism.