Biodegradability testing of xenobiotics

An overview is given of the main aspects related to the biodegradability of chemicals. As such, two approaches to the evaluation of biodegradability are distinguished: a microbial approach (usually based on experiments with pure bacterial cultures at optimum conditions)and an environmental approach (based on experiments with mixed cultures grown under conditions approaching field conditions). Several types of biodegradability tests are reviewed, and testing strategies are discussed. As a basis for developing Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships for biodegradation, detailed results of biodegradation testing are reported for several classes of chemicals.