Abstract

Introduction

Materials & Methods

Results

Discussion & Conclusion

References

Discussion
Board

Cadmium (Cd) is chemically similar to zinc and occurs naturally with zinc and lead in sulfide ores. Some cadmium has been found in all natural materials that have been analyzed. High concentrations in air, water and soil are, however, commonly associated with industrial emission sources, particularly non-ferrous mining and metal refining (1,2). In the past, chronic effects due to long term inhalation of cadmium containing dust were frequently observed. The type and intensity of symptomes depend on individual disposition, as well as on intensity and duration of exposure. Long term ingestion of large amounts of cadmium has, until now, only been observed in Japan. This has led to kidney dysfunction, as in industial exposure, and a severe bone disease known as Itai-itai disease (3). Cadmium compounds are carcinogenic both by inhalation and by injection. For the purposis of risk assessment, a prudent public health approach has been that, if a chemical has been demonstrated to bee carconogenic by one route, it should be considered carcinogenic by all routes. This policy has been questioned for several toxic metals, including cadmium. However, after reviewing literature on cadmium carcinogenity and genotoxicity that has thus far been reported, cadmium should be considered non carcinogenic by the oral route (4).

The target of this study was to describe cadmium accumulation in reproductive organs, histological changes in the structure of ovary, oviductus, uterus and testis, ultrastructural a hormonal changes of ovarian granulosa cells, and motility parameters of bovine spermatozoa cultured with cadmium. Weight of offspring was also studied.

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