MUTAGENICITY OF INHALATION ANESTHETICS - TRICHLOROETHYLENE, DIVINYL ETHER, NITROUS-OXIDE AND CYCLOPROPANE

The mutagenic potential of trichloroethylene, divinyl ether, nitrous oxide and cyclopropane was assessed in vitro by microbial assay employing 2 histidine-dependent strains of Salmonella typhimurium, TA1535 and TA100. Anesthetic agents in various concentrations were incubated with bacteria in the presence of absence or an enzyme system prepared from enzyme-induced rat liver. Nitrous oxide and cyclopropane were not mutagenic, whereas divinyl ether gave a strongly positive response. Results for trichloroethylene were equivocal. These and previous studies with the Salmonella system, together with mutagenicity studies using different test systems, indicate that modern inhalation anesthetic agents are unlikely to be mutagenic.