The chemical and pharmacological properties of the current fluorinated inha
lation anaesthetics, halothane, enflurane, isoflurane, sevoflurane and desf
lurane, are surveyed with implications to toxicity, Analytical methods, esp
ecially gas chromatography with head space, purge and trap, or pulse heatin
g extraction, are reviewed in forensic toxicological and occupational/ ther
apeutic monitoring contexts. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd All righ
ts reserved.