Combined pulmonary toxicity of cadmium chloride and sodium diethyldithiocarbamate

The pulmonary toxicity of sodium diethyldithiocarbamate and cadmium chlorid e, each separately and in combination, was compared in Sprague-Dawley rats after single intratracheal instillation in sequential experiments by chemic al, immunological and morphological methods. With combined exposure, the ca dmium content of the lungs increased permanently relative to that of the lu ngs of just cadmium-treated animals. Immunoglobulin levels of the whole blo od did not change, whereas in bronchoalveolar lavage the IgA and Ige levels increased significantly. Morphological changes were characteristic of the effects of cadmium but were more extensive and more serious than in the cas e of cadmium administration alone: by the end of the first month, interstit ial fibrosis, emphysema and injury of membranes of type 1 pneumocytes devel oped and hypertrophy and loss of microvilli in type II pneumocytes were det ectable. These results showed that although dithiocarbamates as chelating a gents are suitable for the removal of cadmium from organisms, they alter th e redistribution of cadmium within the organism, thereby increasing the cad mium content in the lungs, and structural changes are more serious than obs erved upon cadmium exposure alone. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Lt d.