RISK ASSESSMENT FOR MUTAGENIC AND CARCINOGENIC ACTIVITIES OF ALPHA,BETA-UNSATURATED CARBONYL-COMPOUNDS BY A SCREENING STRATEGY BASED ON STRUCTURE-ACTIVITY-RELATIONSHIPS

alpha,beta-Unsaturated compounds are ubiquitous and are formed endogen ously. They form DNA adducts and are a constant source of DNA damage. A speedy screening strategy based on structure-activity relationships and a battery of prescreening tests for a rapid and reliable assessmen t of the role of these compounds in mutagenesis and carcinogenesis is presented and discussed. In this screening strategy, time-consuming an d expensive animal tests are replaced by in vitro test with bacteria a nd cell cultures. The results of the mutagenicity and genotoxicity tes ts, as well as the results of the binding studies of alpha,beta-unsatu rated carbonyl compounds with DNA components, and the corresponding st ructure-activity relationships, are presented.