Passage of Cadmium Across the Perfused Guinea Pig Placenta 1

Summary

By perfusing the fetal circulation of placentas (61- to 63-days gestation) in situ, we were able to separate fetal uptake from placental transport of cadmium in the guinea pig. Our data indicate that cadmium crosses the placenta from the maternal circulation to the fetal circulation with relative ease. Since cadmium from an iv dose was rapidly removed from the maternal circulation, low levels of transfer to the fetus reported in the literature for many animals are more likely due to low levels of circulating maternal plasma cadmium than to the presence of a strong “placental barrier” to cadmium.