Abstract
Various concentrations of cadmium chloride were incorporated in a diet which was known to be adequate for the normal growth of rats. Diets containing from 1000 to 62.5 parts per million of cadmium were tested. Very little or no growth occurred and death ensued when the concentration of cadmium was 1000, 500, or 250 parts per million. When there were 125 parts per million of cadmium in the diet, the initial rate of growth was normal. All of the male rats receiving this concentration of cadmium died in about fifty days, while the majority of the females survived a very much longer time, one of them dying at the end of one hundred and ninety days, while another was still living at the end of two hundred and eighty days when the experiment was discontinued. A concentration of cadmium of 62.5 parts per million had no effect on growth, the rate of growth and food intake being normal. The food intake increased as the concentration of cadmium in the diet was decreased. Whether the interference with growth was due solely to the diminished food intake was not determined. With a dosage of 0.56 mgm. of cadmium per day no cumulative action was observed.
Footnotes
- Received June 12, 1922.
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