pelletier, m. r. (1988). effect of prenatal cadmium exposure on development and behavior of selectively bred genetic lines of rat: the purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of cadmium exposure as related to dose and genetic background of the organism. twenty-seven dams from three genetic lines of rat (roman high avoidance - rha/lu, roman low avoidance - rla/lu, satinder's heterogeneous stock - shs) were injected subcutaneously (s.c.) with either 0.075 mg/ml/kg, 0.225 mg/ml/kg cadmium chloride (cdcl2) or physiological saline (0.85% nacl) for 21 days during gestation. progeny were observed daily until weaning (28 days) for developmental and reflexive indices. no teratogenic effects were observed. progeny did not demonstrate any dose related differences in reflexive/developmental indices. progeny were tested in the open-field at 35 days of age and for either-way avoidance response at 41 days of age. the avoidance paradigm was found to be a more sensitive indicator of cadmium-induced behavioral effects. the shs genetic line appeared to be more susceptible to cadmium-induced behavioral effects. a cadmium-induced hyper-responsiveness hypothesis was inductively coupled plasma (icp) spectroscopy. cadmium levels were observed to increase in a dose-dependent manner in maternal tissues. it was suggested that future research be directed towards elucidating the neuro-behavioral mechanisms of cadmium-induced hyper-responsiveness.