Determining cleanup levels in bioremediation: Quantitative structure activity relationship techniques
V. J. Arulgnanendran, Nagamany N. Nirmalakhandan · OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) · 1995
An important feature in the process of planning and initiating bioremediation is the quantification of the toxicity of either an individual chemical or a group of chemicals when multiple chemicals are involved. A laboratory protocol was developed to test the toxicity of single chemicals and mixtures of organic chemicals in a soil medium. Portions of these chemicals are used as a training set to develop Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship (QSAR) models. These predictive models are tested using the chemicals in the testing set, i.e., the remaining chemicals. Moreover mixtures with 10 contaminants in each mixture are tested experimentally to determine joint toxicity for mixtures of chemicals. Using the concepts of Toxic Units, Additivity Index, and Mixture Toxicity Index, the laboratory results are tested for additive, synergistic, or antagonistic effects of the contaminants. These concepts are further validated on mixtures containing eight chemicals that are tested in the laboratory. In addition to the use of the predictive models in evaluating cleanup levels for hazardous waste locations, they are useful to predict microbial toxicity in soils of new chemicals from a congeneric group acting by the same mode of toxicity. These models are applicable when the contaminants act singly or jointly inmore » a mixture.« less