A Generic QSAR for Assessing the Bioaccumulation Potential of Organic Chemicals in Aquatic Food Webs

Abstract

This study presents the development of a quantitative‐structure activity relationship (QSAR) for assessing the bioaccumulation potential of organic chemicals in aquatic food webs. The QSAR is derived by parameterization and calibration of a mechanistic food web bioaccumulation model. Calibration of the QSAR is based on the derivation of a large database of bioconcentration and bioaccumulation factors, which is evaluated for data quality. The QSAR provides estimates of the bioaccumulation potential of organic chemicals in higher trophic level fish species of aquatic food webs. The QSAR can be adapted to include the effect of metabolic transformation and trophic dilution on the BAF. The BAF‐QSAR can be applied to categorize organic chemical substances on their bioaccumulation potential. It identifies chemicals with a log K OW between 4.0 and 12.2 to exhibit BAFs greater than 5 000 in the absence of significant metabolic transformation rates. The BAF‐QSAR can also be used in the derivation of water quality guidelines and total maximum daily loadings by relating internal concentrations of organic chemicals in upper trophic fish species to corresponding concentrations in the water.