ABSTRACT
This chapter postulates that barbiturate-induced sleeping times can be used as an indicator of microsomal enzyme activity induced by environmental contaminants in wild populations. It demonstrates this in a wild population inhabiting an area known to be contaminated. The chapter reviews the use of barbiturate, primarily pentobarbital (Nembutal), induced sleeping time as a means of detecting changes in microsomal enzyme metabolism due to exposure to environmental contaminants and to explore the potential for extension of its use to in situ detection of contaminant exposure in wild populations. It also reviews the history of barbiturate-induced anesthesia, the distribution, metabolism, and elimination of barbiturates, and the use of barbiturate-induced sleep times to evaluate hepatic microsome enzyme activity in laboratory animals exposed to environmental contaminants. During the 1970s there was an increase in laboratory studies using barbiturate induced sleeping time as an indication of hepatic microsomal enzyme changes resulting from exposure to environmental contaminants.
