Development of a predictive model for biodegradability based on BIODEG, the evaluated biodegradation data base.

A file of evaluated biodegradation data was used to develop a model for predicting aerobic biodegradability from chemical structure alone. Chemicals were initially divided into three groups: (i) chemicals that degrade rapidly under most environmental conditions without requiring acclimation; (ii) chemicals that degrade slowly or not at all; and (iii) chemicals that are biodegradable, but only after an acclimation period. Chemicals in the first two groups were then used to develop a model for classifying chemicals as rapidly or not rapidly biodegradable. The model is based on linear regression against 34 preselected substructures, and correctly classifies 92% (211 or 229) of the chemicals in the final training set.