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blood cadmium level in swine fed 83 ppm cadmium in the diet. There 

 were no significant differences in blood cadmium levels of lambs 

 fed diets containing 0.7, 3.5 and 7.1 ppm cadmium (Mills and 

 Dalgarno 1972). Similar results were obtained for goats that were 

 fed 5.3 ppm cadmium (Dowdy et al . 1983). Cousins et al . (1973) 

 reported that reduced hematocrit, due to induced iron deficiency, 

 was the most sensitive indicator of cadmium toxicity in swine. 

 Few data were found in the literature for hematocrit values and 

 cadmium exposure relationships for other livestock species. Wright 

 et al. (1977) reported little difference between blood cadmium 

 concentrations in controls and cattle feed diets up to 500 ppm 

 cadmium (clinical toxicosis). These authors found blood cadmium 

 concentrations averaged 0.04 for all 12 of their test animals on 

 diets of to 500 ppm cadmium. Puis (1981) also reported that 

 blood cadmium levels are not diagnostical ly elevated even in toxic 

 environments. The cadmium content of cattle milk has been found 

 to vary seasonally, generally being highest during the spring and 

 summer (Murthy and Rhea 1968). Market milk tested by the same 

 authors ranged from 0.017 to 0.030 ppm (mean of 0.026 ppm) and 

 they found a range of 0.020 to 0.037 ppm in 32 individual animals 

 tested in the Cincinnati area. Typical background values found in 

 the literature ranged from 0.0001 ppm (Cornell and Pallansch 1973) 

 to the 0.037 found by Murthy and Rhea (1968). Sharma et al . (1979) 

 found no significant increase in milk cadmium levels from cattle 

 fed up to 11.3 ppm cadmium in the diet. Levels of cadmium milk 

 from three Holstein cows that were kept on a diet of 250-300 ppm 

 cadmium for 2 weeks remained below the 0.1 ppm detection limit 

 (Miller et al. 1967). Similarly, a study by Dowdy et al. (1983) 

 found no increase in the cadmium levels in milk from goats that 

 were fed up to 5.3 ppm cadmium. 



The most reliable indicator of cadmium exposure in livestock 

 is the determination of metal levels in the liver and/or kidney. 

 Mean cadmium concentrations in these organs from two-year-old 

 slaughter cattle from non-polluted areas of the Northern Great 

 Plains were reported to be 0.06 and 0.22 ppm (wet weight), respec- 

 tively (Munshower 1977). These values were lower than the levels 



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