Cytogenetic effects of inhaled ethylene oxide in somatic and germ cells of mice.

The induction of cytogenetic effects by inhalation of ethylene oxide was tested in bone marrow cells and primary spermatocytes at diakinesis-metaphase I cells from mouse after a single treatment (6 h/1 day) at 0, 200, 400 and 600 ppm, and multiple treatment (6 h/5 days/2 weeks) at 0, 200 and 400 ppm. Ethylene oxide induced chromosomal aberrations in both somatic as well as in germ cells of mice. In the single treatment the response observed for germ cells was not equivalent to that observed for somatic cells. In the latter there was a greater sensibility for bone marrow cells. With multiple treatment the effects on the chromosomes were equivalent in somatic and in germ cells.