Ecotoxicological chemistry, Chapter

It is important to consider the effects of toxic substances within the context of the environment through which exposure of various organisms occurs. Furthermore, toxic substances are created, altered, or detoxified by environmental chemical processes in water, in soil, and when substances are exposed to the atmosphere. Therefore, Chapter 2 deals with environmental chemistry and environmental chemical processes. The relationship of toxic substances and the organisms that they affect in the environment is addressed specifically by ecotoxicology in Chapter 5. 

Since one of the main aims of green chemistry is to reduce the use and/or production of toxic chemicals, it is important for practitioners to be able to make informed decisions about the inherent toxicity of a compound. Where sufficient ecotoxicological data have been generated and risk assessments performed, this can allow for the selection of less toxic options, such as in the case of some surfactants and solvents [94, 95]. When toxicological data are limited, for example, in the development of new pharmaceuticals (see Section 15.4.3) or other consumer products, there are several ways in which information available from other chemicals may be helpful to estimate effect measures for a compound where data are lacking. Of these, the most likely to be used are the structure-activity relationships (SARs, or QSARs when they are quantitative). These relationships are also used to predict chemical properties and behavior (see Chapter 16). There often are similarities in toxicity between chemicals that have related structures and/or functional subunits. Such relationships can be seen in the progressive change in toxicity and are described in QSARs. When several chemicals with similar structures have been tested, the measured effects can be mathematically related to chemical structure [96-98] and QSAR models used to predict the toxicity of substances with similar structure. Any new chemicals that have similar structures can then be assumed to elicit similar responses. 

In order to understand toxicological chemistry, it is necessary to have some understanding of the environmental context in which toxicological chemical phenomena occur. This in turn requires an understanding of the broader picture of environmental science and environmental chemistry, which are addressed in this chapter. Also needed is an understanding of how environmental chemicals interact with organisms and their ecosystems, as addressed by the topic of ecotoxicology, covered in Chapter 5. 

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