Mutagenicity Studies with Halothane in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Halothane was studied for its mutagenic effects in D. melanogaster. The induction of sex-linked recessive lethals was used as an indicator of genetic damage. Adult male flies were exposed to halothane for 14 days at 1000 or 1600 ppm (vol/vol) or for 1 or 2 days in 2100 or 20,000 ppm. In several experiments slight increases of the mutation frequency were seen. For the pooled data of the 14-day exposure experiments, the increase amounted to a doubling of the spontaneous rate, just reaching the level of 5% significance. Apparently halothane has weak mutagenic activity under the conditions studied.