Over the past few years, research in the field of quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) in chemistry, biology, pharmacology, toxicology, and environmental sciences has seen strong growth. New journals and books have appeared in each of these fields, however, the combination of QSAR and environmental sciences is still in its infancy. After the success of the Workshop on Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships (QSAR) in Environmental Toxicology, held at McMaster University, Aug ust 16-18, 1983, with the proceedings publ ished in 1984 [QSA R in Environmental Toxicology,...

Ever since Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, we have generally become aware of environmental contaminants and their effects on the ecosystem. The findin of PCB's in fish by Soren Jensen in Sweden, the recognition of mirex as contaminant in fish from Lake Ontario, and the discoveries of contaminant laden leachates from dumpsites such as the Love Canal have become milestones in the search for and charac- terization of contaminants in our environment. At this time, the problem no longer is so much the identifi- cation of contaminants and their sources. Rather, we are now faced with solving...