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Abstract
Cadmium is a major industrial effluent and the cause of itai‐itai disease. As a biological detector for cadmium toxicity, an assay using the motile response of the protozoa species, Tetrahymena pyriformis, has been described. The assay relies on macroscopic bioconvective patterns to score the toxic response, giving a sensitivity better than 1 μM and a toxicity threshold to 5 ( μM for Cd+2. Using pattern formation as the toxicity monitor, the organic chelating agent D/‐PDMS is investigated individually for toxic effects at low dosages (without cadmium) and for poison protection directly (with cadmium). Dosages of 0.1–0.5 μM Di‐PDMS show protective chelation of cadmium and enhance pattern formation capabilities for 1 μM Cd+2.