Abstracts / Toxicology Letters 180S (2008) S32–S246 S177 S44 Frequencies of stable and unstable chromosomal aberrations in lymphocytes of workers employed in carbamate production Davor Zeljezic * , Ana Lucic Vrdoljak, Aleksandra Fucic, Marin Mladinic, Suzana Berend, Bozica Radic, Nevenka Kopjar Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb, Croatia Carbamates are efficient pesticides widely used in agriculture. Their use began in the 1950s, and presently approximately 25 carbamate compounds are available on the market. Several epidemiologi- cal studies indicated possible correlation between occupational exposure to carbamates and increased risk of malignancies (non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma, lung and rectal cancer). Present study comprised 20 workers employed in production of carbamates, and 20 control subjects with no record of exposure to known geno- toxic agents. Examinees are matched with control subjects by age (44.5 ± 10.22 vs. 43.9 ± 6.29, respectively), sex (9 females; 11 males), and smoking (9 smokers; 11 non-smokers). To determine translocation yield we used whole-chromosome paint probes for chromosomes 1, 2 and 4, and compared it with the results of the standard chromosomal aberration analysis. For each subject not less than 1000 metaphases were analysed. Translocation fre- quencies were calculated according to Lucas et al. (1992). Among workers significant increase in chromatid breaks (4.70 ± 1.95) com- pared to the control (2.10 ± 0.91) was found while other types of unstable aberrations did not differ significantly. Genomic frequency of translocations per cell was significantly elevated (exposed 0.0110 ± 0.0052; control 0.0054 ± 0.0026). Distribution of translo- cations among chromosomes 1, 2 and 4 did not differ from the one detected in control subjects and matched DNA fraction for selected chromosomes. Since the translocation yield showed good correlation with years spent in carbamate production (R = 0.53; p = 0.028) we may conclude that exposure to this group of pesticide could pose a risk to genome integrity. doi:10.1016/j.toxlet.2008.06.298 S45 Effect of some plant growth regulators—Derivatives of N-oxide- pyridine on protein-synthesis processes and mitochondrial membrane of hepatocytes at subchronic ingestion to rats Mykola Prodanchuk, Olesya Zhminko * , Peter Zhminko Medved’s Institute of Ecohygiene and Toxicology, Kyiv, Ukraine The subchronic toxicity of some plant growth regulators (PGR)—derivatives of N-oxide pyridine on Wistar female rats was studied. Ivin (N-oxide-2,6-dimethylpyridine) was studied in doses 13, 1.3, 0.13, 0.013 mg/kg, Triman (aqua(N-oxide-2-methylpyridine) Mn(II)Cl 2 ) and Tetran (Di(N-oxide-2-methylpyridine)Zn(II)Cl 2 ) were studied in doses 30, 3, 0.3, 0.03 mg/kg during 90 days. It is founded that Triman and Ivin have the most expressed membrane-acting effect shown in reliable decrease of lipid peroxidation intensity, increase of the spontaneous mitochon- drial swelling, oppressing or induction of membrane-bound enzymes—succinate dehydrogenase and cytochrome-oxidase. Tetran shows weak membrano-acting activity at high level of doses only. Triman and Ivin intensified both protein-synthesis and protein- breakdown processes in different period of testing: increase of protein and RNA content in liver, RNA/DNA ratio and content of protein-breakdown products—urea and creatinine. Insignificant destabilization of synthesis processes in rat organism had transient character. Tetran did not effect on protein-synthesis processes in rat organism. The dose–response and time curves of lipid peroxidation inten- sity, RNA content, protein-breakdown product have mono- or bimodal character. It is founded that the studied PGR did not demonstrate the dependence “dose-time-effect” and effect had differently directed characteristics at subchronic ingestion to the rats. The distinctive feature of studied PGR is that membranotoxicity and changes of protein-synthesis processes show up to a greater extent on low dose level. doi:10.1016/j.toxlet.2008.06.299 P13 Environmental Toxicology E001 Inula crithmoides extract protect against ochratoxin A-induced oxidative stress and cytotoxicity alteration in male rats Mosaad Abdel-Wahhab * , Sekena Abdel-Azim, Aziza El Nekeety National Research Center, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin often found in cereals and agricultural products. There is unequivocal evidence of renal car- cinogenicity of OTA in male rats, although the mechanism of action is unknown. Several reports suggested that exposure to OTA resulted in oxidative stress, genotoxicity and DNA damage. There- fore, the aim of the current study was to evaluate the protective effects of aqueous extract of Inula crithmoides growing in Egypt against OTA-induced cytotoxicity and oxidative stress. Forty male Sprague–Dawley rats were divided into four groups and treated for 15 days as follow: control group and the groups treated with OTA (3 mg/kg b.w), I. crithmoides extract alone (370 mg/kg b.w) and OTA plus I. crithmoides extract. Blood and tissue samples were collected for different biochemical analysis. Bone marrow micronucleus test and random amplified polymorphism DNA-PCR (RAPD-PCR) method were performed to assess the antigenotoxic effect of the extract. The results indicated that OTA induced toxico- logical effects typical to those reported in the literature and increase the frequencies of MnPCEs in bone marrow. The RAPD-PCR analysis revealed the appearance of new bands in DNA resulted from genetic alteration. The extract alone was safe and succeeded to counteract the oxidative stress and protect against the cytotoxicity resulted from OTA. doi:10.1016/j.toxlet.2008.06.153 E002 The Swedish environmental information and classification scheme for pharmaceuticals—An empirical investigation of the motivations, intentions and expectations underlying its devel- opment and implementation Marlene Ågerstrand * , Christina Rudén, Misse Wester Division of Philosophy, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden The Swedish Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry has in col- laboration with the Swedish Medical Products Agency and several other Swedish stakeholders launched a unique voluntary environ- mental classification scheme for pharmaceuticals. The system is publicly available on the Internet (www.fass.se). The system uti- lizes data delivered by the respective pharmaceutical producers to