A comparison of diethyldithiocarbamate and EDTA as antidotes for acute cadmium intoxication.

For mice which have been given the cadmium equivalent of CdCl2 X 2 1/2H2O at a level of 10 mg/kg, diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC) administration at 500 mg/kg leads to a higher survival rate than is found with Na2CaEDTA under identical conditions. This occurs when the interval between administration of the cadmium salt and the antidote is either one or two hours. The surviving animals, however, are found to have appreciable levels of cadmium in their brain, liver and kidney when they were treated with DDTC, though their behavior appeared to be normal. The use of 50 mg/kg of DDTC after 2 hr in such cadmium poisoned mice also leads to a higher survival rate and reduced amounts of cadmium retained in the brain, liver and kidney. Unlike the other chelating agents which have been reported as useful in acute cadmium intoxication, DDTC appears to act by forming a lipid soluble complex which is largely immobilized in lipid containing tissues of the animal's body.