Predictive models on photolysis and photoinduced toxicity of persistent organic chemicals

Photodegradation is a major abiotic transformation pathway of toxic chemicals in the environment, which in some cases might lead to photoinduced toxicities. The data on photodegradation kinetics and photoinduced toxicities of organic chemicals are essential for their risk assessment. However, the relevant data are only available for a limited number of chemicals, due to the difficulty and high cost of experimental determination. Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models that relate photodegradation kinetics or photoinduced toxicity of organic chemicals with their physicochemical properties or molecular structural descriptors may enable simple and fast estimation of their photochemical behaviors. This paper reviews the QSAR models on photodegradation quantum yields and rate constants for toxic organic chemicals in different media including liquid phase, gaseous phase, surfaces of plant leaves, and QSAR models on photoinduced toxicity of organic chemicals to plants, bacteria, and aquatic invertebrates. Further prospects for QSAR model development on photodegradation kinetics and photoinduced toxicity of refractory organic chemicals are proposed.