Influence of dietary ingredients on the body retention of strontium, cadmium and mercury in suckling rats.

Six-day-old suckling rats were artificially fed over 8 h with cow's milk or a mixture of rat food ingredients (fish meal, sunflower meal, alfalfa, cane molasses and premix) labelled with 85Sr, 115mCd or 203Hg. Whole-body radioactivity was determined in a double crystal scintillation counter every 24 h over a 6-day period. Carcass, gut, liver and kidney retention were determined at the end of the experiment. Relative to pups that were fed on cow's milk, administration of the mixture of the solid dietary ingredients caused a significant reduction in whole body, carcass and organ retention of all metals and was highest for 203Hg. This indicates that high absorption of toxic metals in sucklings can be reduced by dietary means. Rat food ingredients deserve further consideration because they are non-toxic dietary constituents and might be useful for decreasing the body burden of some metals in conditions of increased environmental exposure.