Cadmium telluride

Toxicity to reproduction

Administrative data

Endpoint:

reproductive toxicity, other

Type of information:

experimental study

Adequacy of study:

key study

Study period:

Not reported

Reliability:

2 (reliable with restrictions)

Rationale for reliability incl. deficiencies:

study well documented, meets generally accepted scientific principles, acceptable for assessment

Cross-reference

Cross-reference 1

Reason / purpose for cross-reference:

reference to same study

Cross-reference 2

Reason / purpose for cross-reference:

reference to other study

Data source

Reference

Reference Type:

study report

Title:

Unnamed

Year:

1994

Report date:

1994

Materials and methods

Test guideline

Qualifier:

no guideline followed

Principles of method if other than guideline:

Short-term reproductive and developmental toxicity screen (28days). Males (group 1) are, prior to chemical exposure, cohabited with a group of females (group3) for the first 3 days of the study. The animals are separated at the end of cohabitation. The females are housed until they are dosed from gestation day 6-15. They are allowed to give birth, and rear their young until postnatal day 4. Meanwhile, the males are dosed from study day 3 until 27. These males are again mated with another group of females (group2) from study day 12 until 16. During this time, both sexes are treated with the compound.

GLP compliance:

not specified

Limit test:

no

Test material

Test material information

Constituent 1

Reference substance name:

Cadmium telluride

EC Number:

215-149-9

EC Name:

Cadmium telluride

Cas Number:

1306-25-8

Molecular formula:

CdTe

IUPAC Name:

telluroxocadmium

Details on test material:

- Name of test material (as cited in study report): cadmium telluride

Test animals

Species:

rat

Strain:

Sprague-Dawley

Sex:

male/female

Details on test animals or test system and environmental conditions:

no information

Administration / exposure

Route of administration:

oral: gavage

Vehicle:

other: 0.5% hemimethylcellulose

Details on exposure:

The test substance was suspended in 0.5% hemimethylcellulose and administred to adult male and female Spragley-Dawley rats daily by oral gavage.

Details on mating procedure:

- M/F ratio per cage: 1:1
- Length of cohabitation: 3 days and afterwards 5 days with respective females groups
- Proof of pregnancy: Sperm in vaginal smear or plug during cohabitation

Analytical verification of doses or concentrations:

not specified

Details on analytical verification of doses or concentrations:

No data

Duration of treatment / exposure:

-males (group 1): dosed from study day 3 until study day 27
-females (group 2): continuously exposed: day 0 until day 27
-females (group 3): gestational exposure: day 6 until day 15

Frequency of treatment:

Daily

Details on study schedule:

Males (group 1) are, prior to chemical exposure, cohabited with a group of females (group3) for the first 3 days of the study. The animals are separated at the end of cohabitation. The females are housed until they are dosed from gestation day 6-15. They are allowed to give birth, and rear their young until postnatal day 4. Meanwhile, the males are dosed from study day 3 until 27. These males are again mated with another group of females (group2) from study day 12 until 16. During this time, both sexes are treated with the compound.

Doses / concentrations

Doses / concentrations 1

Dose / conc.:

10 mg/kg bw/day

Doses / concentrations 2

Dose / conc.:

30 mg/kg bw/day

Doses / concentrations 3

Dose / conc.:

100 mg/kg bw/day

No. of animals per sex per dose:

10

Control animals:

yes, concurrent no treatment

Details on study design:

- Dose selection rationale:
A 28-day dose-range-finding (DRF) study was conducted to set doses for the main study. This DRF study involved no mating, just dosing to group-housed adult rats. 8 animals/ sex/dose. Doses tested were: 1000, 500, 250, 100 and 0 mg/kg/d. Hematological, clinical chemistry and body/organ weight effects were found at the lowest level (100mg/kg/d). Main study doses were set at 10,30, 100 mgCdTe/kg/d

Positive control:

None

Examinations

Parental animals: Observations and examinations:

BODY WEIGHT: Yes
- Time schedule for examinations: group 1: day 3,7,11,15, 19, 23, 28; group 2: day 0,4,8,12,16,20,24,28; group 3: gestation day 0,6,10, 15 and post natal day 1, 4

FOOD CONSUMPTION :
- Food consumption for each animal determined and calculated as mean daily g food/kg body weight/day: Yes

Oestrous cyclicity (parental animals):

Number of live implants
Early/late resorptions
Total implants/ corpora lutea

Sperm parameters (parental animals):

Parameters examined in male parents:
Epididymal sperm motility and total epididymal sperm count

Litter observations:

PARAMETERS EXAMINED
The following parameters were examined in F1 offspring:
Number of pups, stillbirths, live births, postnatal mortality, weight gain

Postmortem examinations (parental animals):

SACRIFICE
- Male animals: All surviving animals at day 28
- Maternal animals: All surviving animals after postnatal day 4
HISTOPATHOLOGY / ORGAN WEIGHTS: on liver, kidney, testis, spleen

Postmortem examinations (offspring):

No data

Statistics:

None

Reproductive indices:

None

Offspring viability indices:

None

Results and discussion

Results: P0 (first parental generation)

General toxicity (P0)

Clinical signs:

not specified

Mortality:

no mortality observed

Body weight and weight changes:

effects observed, treatment-related

Description (incidence and severity):

males: dose-related decrease in body weight gain, with the high dose animals (30 and 100 mg/kg/day) losing weigth during the study
females (group 2): animals in the top dose (100 mg/kg bw) gained less than half the weight that controls gained over the course of the study

Food consumption and compound intake (if feeding study):

effects observed, treatment-related

Description (incidence and severity):

males: reduced during the first 11 days of the exposure in the high dose group (100 mg/kg bw) only
females (group 2): high dose group (100 mg/kg bw) consumed slightly less food than controls

Haematological findings:

effects observed, treatment-related

Description (incidence and severity):

males: eosinophils were reduced at the high dose group (100 mg/kg bw)

Clinical biochemistry findings:

effects observed, treatment-related

Description (incidence and severity):

males: serum enzymes indicative of liver damage and serum albumin levels were slightly increased in the high dose group

Urinalysis findings:

no effects observed

Description (incidence and severity):

males: no increase in urinary cadmium or protein levels

Organ weight findings including organ / body weight ratios:

no effects observed

Histopathological findings: non-neoplastic:

no effects observed

Description (incidence and severity):

males: no changes in the structure of kidneys or livers

Other effects:

not specified

Reproductive function / performance (P0)

Reproductive function: oestrous cycle:

no effects observed

Reproductive function: sperm measures:

no effects observed

Reproductive performance:

no effects observed

Details on results (P0)

BODY WEIGHT AND FOOD CONSUMPTION (PARENTAL ANIMALS):
group 1 (males): dose related decrease in body weight gain, with the high dose animals losing weight during the study. Food consumption is reduced during the first 11 days of exposure only in the high dose group
group 2 (females- continuously exposed): animals in the top dose group consumed slightly less food than controls and gained less than half the weight that controls gained during the course of the study
group 3 (females -gestational exposure): females dosed during fetal organogenesis with the high dose level consumed less food than controls, and animals in the middle dose group consumed less food from gestational day 8-12. There was a dose-related inhibition of weight gain that started at the lowest dose group, and animals in both middle and high dose groups gained significantly less weight during the experiment and finished lighter than controls.

REPRODUCTIVE FUNCTION: ESTROUS CYCLE (PARENTAL ANIMALS): no change in any fertility endpoint (number of live implants, number of dead implants, number of resorptions, number of corpora lutea

REPRODUCTIVE FUNCTION: SPERM MEASURES (PARENTAL ANIMALS): no effects on sperm parameters, fertility before and during chemical administration (group 1 males)

REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE (PARENTAL ANIMALS): no adverse effects seen

ORGAN WEIGHTS (PARENTAL ANIMALS): no effects on organ weights (group 1 males)

HISTOPATHOLOGY (PARENTAL ANIMALS): No changes in the structure of kidneys or livers (known target organs of cadmium toxicity) (sytemic toxicity only evaluated in males)

OTHER FINDINGS (PARENTAL ANIMALS): eosinophils were reduced at the high dose group. Serum enzymes indicative of liver damage were slightly increased in the high dose group. Serum albumin levels were increased slightly; no increase in Cd-U or in protein levels

Effect levels (P0)

Dose descriptor:

NOAEL

Remarks:

reproductive

Effect level:

100 mg/kg bw/day

Based on:

test mat.

Sex:

male/female

Basis for effect level:

reproductive function (oestrous cycle)

reproductive function (sperm measures)

reproductive performance

Results: F1 generation

General toxicity (F1)

Clinical signs:

not specified

Mortality / viability:

no mortality observed

Body weight and weight changes:

no effects observed

Sexual maturation:

not specified

Organ weight findings including organ / body weight ratios:

not specified

Gross pathological findings:

not specified

Histopathological findings:

not specified

Details on results (F1)

VIABILITY (OFFSPRING): no increase in fetal loss before or after birth

BODY WEIGHT (OFFSPRING): no effects on the pups

Effect levels (F1)

Dose descriptor:

NOAEL

Generation:

F1

Sex:

male/female

Basis for effect level:

other: no adverse effects on birth weight, weigth gain of the pups after birth; viability: no increase in fetal loss before or after birth

Remarks on result:

other: not quantifiied

Overall reproductive toxicity

Reproductive effects observed:

not specified

Any other information on results incl. tables

none

Applicant's summary and conclusion

Conclusions:

The authors conclude that despite effects on body weight gain, this duration of CdTe dosing had no detectable effects on male/female rat reproduction.
Overall the available data indicate that CdTe is not classifiable as a reproductive toxicant

Executive summary:

A Short-term reproductive and developmental toxicity screen test (28days)with 10 Sprague-Dawley rats/sex/dose was conducted. A pilot dose-range-finding study found hematology, clin chem, and body/organ weight effects at the lowest level (100 mg/kg/d); main study doses were set at 10, 30, and 100 mg CdTe/kg/d, p.o. in 0.5% methylcellulose. Food consumption was variably decreased (less than or equal to 18%) at 30 and 100 mg/kg. All dosed males gained less weight; the high dose group lost 23 gr (3.7% body wt). Relative kidney weight was increased; male liver and spleen wts and all reproductive indices (fertility, sperm #, motility) were unchanged. CdTe did not alter the number of live implants, resorptions or corpora lutea in females treated before/during/after cohabiting with treated males, although body wt gain was inhibited by CdTe (less than or equal to 50%). Another group of females was dosed GD 6-15 only, and delivered their litters; all were killed pnd4. There was a dose-related decrease in dam body wt in all CdTe groups (on pnd1, less than or equal to 15%), with no change in the number of live pups delivered, postnatal deaths or pup wt at or after birth.

These data show that, despite effects on body wt gain, this duration of CdTe dosing had no detectable effects on male or female rat reproduction.