Correlation between Toluene Exposure and Toxicity Effects of Toluene on Drosophila Melanogaster Fecundity and Offspring Survivability

Toluene is a volatile organic compound that is a common indoor contaminant. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, chronic toluene exposure negatively affects organ systems, such as nervous and respiratory, and acts as a fetotoxic agent in the development of humans. Toluene exposure causes damage to human myelin sheaths, thus we propose that damage to the fly nervous system will be similar to that seen in humans exposed to toluene. Our ultimate goal is to determine the effects of toluene exposure on developmental and neuronal processes in D. melanogaster. In this first phase, we hypothesize that toluene-exposed adults, at the interpolated Lethal Exposure (LE50), will demonstrate decreased fecundity and that offspring from toluene-exposed females will have decreased survivability from the egg to adult stage. We developed a continuous flow system that delivers known concentrations of gaseous toluene to populations of D. melanogaster. Ten to twenty adult female flies per trial were ex...