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Cadmium and the Food Chain: The Effect of Dietary Cadmium on Tissue Composition in Chicks and Laying Hens

Departments of Poultry Science and Agronomy, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802

The cadmium content of body tissues and eggs was studied in broiler chicks and laying hens fed diets supplemented with 3, 12, and 48 µg/g of cadmium. The 48 µg/g level was selected as a slightly toxic level while the lower levels were felt to be representative of the amounts of cadmium which would occur in feedstuffs due to environmental contamination. All levels of cadmium resulted in increased cadmium content of kidney while only 12 and 48 µg/g resulted in increases in the cadmium content of liver and muscle. As little as 3 µg/g cadmium consistently increased the cadmium content of liver and muscle but this did not prove to be statistically significant. The transfer of dietary cadmium to the egg was found to be very low. Only the 48 µg/g level resulted in an increase in cadmium content of the egg. This dietary treatment also resulted in reduced egg production and egg shell thickness.

KEY WORDS: • cadmium • long-term feeding • tissue composition

Manuscript received 2 May 1978.