Heavy metals such as cadmium pose a number of environmental problems in addition to being detrimental to human health. Cadmium is known to be embryotoxic in animal models and to cause brain, limb and craniofacial malformations. Among numerous mechanisms proposed for cadmium toxicity are oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation. Vitamin E has been found to have antioxidant and cytoprotective properties in cultured cells but its effect on cadmium embryonic toxicity has not yet been determined. Epithelial-like cells derived from day-8 whole-mouse embryos were used as a model embryonic tissue. Cadmium toxicity in these cultured cells was found to be both time and concentration dependent. Prior exposure to 50 microM alpha-tocopherol or 25 or 50 microM alpha-tocopherol acetate resulted in a marked reduction in the toxicity of 5 microM CdCl2. The apparent cytoprotective effects may be partly non-specific, however, as a general growth enhancement was observed after vitamin E exposure in the absence of cadmium.