Compound evaluation system, monitoring chemicals

After preliminary disclosure of promising antimalarial leads, there is an ongoing requirement for the evaluation of selectivity in more advanced phases of the development process. By monitoring the effects of natural and chemical derivatization of lead compounds upon potency and selectivity in an in vitro bioassay system such as that described here, the safest and most effective candidates can be promoted for further study in in vivo models. 

Abstract While a large hody of information is available on the environmental effects of parent chemicals, we know much less about the effects of transformation products. However, transformation products may be more toxic, more persistent and more mobile than their parent compound. An understanding of the ecotoxicity of transformation products is therefore essential if we are to accmately assess the environmental risks of synthetic chemicals. This chapter therefore uses data on pesticides and their transformation products to explore the relationships between parent and transformation product ecotoxicity to aquatic and terrestrial organisms and describes the potential reasons why a transformation product may be more toxic than its parent compound. As it is not feasible to experimentally assess the ecotoxicity of each and every transformation product, this chapter also describes and evaluates the use of expert systems, read-across methods and quantitative structme activity relationships for estimating transformation product ecotoxicity based on chemical structme. Finally, experimental and predicted ecotoxicity data are used alongside monitoring data for parent pesticides and their transformation products to illustrate how the risks of parent and transformation product mixtiu es can be assessed. 

The purpose of this chapter is to give an overview of the chemical and biological processes that control the reactivity of Fe(II) in heterogeneous aqueous systems with respect to pollutant transformation. To this end, we will evaluate data collected in various laboratory systems as well as field studies. Two classes of model compounds with complementary properties will be used to monitor the reactivity of Fe(II) species in the various systems. Nitroaromatic compounds (NACs) primarily served to characterize the systems in terms of mass and electron balances. Reduction of NACs by Fe(II) species results in only a few major products (aromatic amines and hydroxy-lamines) which can be easily quantified by standard HPLC-UV methods in the low liM range. Polyhalogenated aliphatic compounds (PHAs) were used if little perturbation of the systems in terms of electron transfer to the organic substrates was crucial. Reduction of PHAs requires fewer electrons than nitro reduction and PHAs can be quantified by standard GC-ECD methods in the low ppb range. 

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