Rats were intravenously administered doses of 1.34, 2.67, 4.01 mg/kg of Cadmium fluoride. The 24 hour LD50 was determined to be 3.29 mg/kg with severe hepatocellular injury and acute renal failure recorded at 2.67 mg/kg. At doses of 4.01 mg/ kg and higher, there was a marked increase in serum potassium and metabolic acidosis as well as AST and ALT activities greater the 1,500 IU/L.

Human keratinocyte HACAT cells were cultured at 37 deg-C in a 5% CO2 atmosphere in RPMI1640 medium containing 10% FCS, 5000 U/mL penicillin and 2 mM L-glutamine. Cadmium chloride was prepared in distilled water and added to the culture medium to obtain final concentrations of 15, 50, and 100 micro-M. Cell cultures were then incubated for 24 hours then analyzed for apoptotic DNA fragmentation, Caspase-9 activity, Caspase-3 activity, p53 activation, cellular content, and other protein expression levels. Cadmium did not induce apoptotic cell death nor did it increase caspase-9 or caspase-3 activity in HaCaT cells. When HaCaT cells were also treated with 9 micro-g/mL of p553 activator and 100 micro-M Cadmium there was a significant reduction in cell viability from 54% to 28%.