The Assessment of Individual Variability to Trace Metal Insult: Low-Molecular-Weight Metal Complexing Agents as Indicators of Trace Metal Insult

Abstract

The interaction and time distribution of cadmium, lead, and copper in the sera and red blood cells of rats dosed repeatedly with subacute amounts of cadmium have been studied by using the combined techniques of anodic stripping voltammetry and gel filtration chromatography. Low-molecular-weight trace metal complexing agents in the serum were identified. Their significance as possible indicators of individual variation in response to heavy metal insult and as a means of assessing environmental levels is discussed.