Chromatographic estimation of the soil-sorption coefficients of organic compounds

Soil-sorption coefficient (K-OC) assessment is essential before placing a new chemical substance on the market. Since experimental K-OC measurements are tedious, time-consuming and costly, alternative approaches to estimating K-OC from other descriptors have been proposed. We review the use of chromatographic retention (log k) values, obtained in different types of chromatographic systems, as descriptors to establish predictive log K-OC-log k models. We highlighted critical aspects of such models and performed a comparative study using data in the literature. We compare two strategies to deal with the large variability of experimental log K-OC data. We contrast the results of this study with the main conclusions reported in the literature. (C)) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.