Mutagenicity tests with cadmium in the mouse.

The testicle is known to be the critical organ in acute exposure of experimental mammals to cadmium. Such treatment results in temporary sterility and, very often, in the appearance of testicular interstitial cell tumors. The present experiments were performed to determine whether such deleterious effects on the male reproductive organs involved any genetic hazards for the surviving germ cells. The administration of 1.75 mg/kg cadmium chloride to male mice did not increase the dominant lethals during the first three weeks after treatment and failed to induce translocation in the F1 male off-spring. No chromosome rearrangement was observed in the treated males after i.p. injection of 0.5, 1.75 or 3.0 mg/kg cadmium chloride.