Partition Coefficient and Bioaccumulation of Selected Organic Chemicals

An empirical equation is established to relate the experimental n-octanol/water partition coefficients to the aqueous solubilities of a wide variety of chemicals including aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, aromatic acids, organochlorine and organophosphate pesticides, and polychlorinated biphenyls. Such a correlation, covering more than eight orders of magnitude in solubility (from 10-3 to 104 ppm) and six orders of magnitude in partition coefficient (from 10 to lo7), allows an assessment of partition coefficient from solubility with a predicted error of less than one order of magnitude. A correlation is observed between the bioconcentration factors in rainbow trout and the aqueous solubilities for some stable organic compounds.