Base-Line Toxicity Predicted by Quantitative Structure—Activity Relationships as a Probe for Molecular Mechanism of Toxicity

Narcosis represents the most fundamental mechanism of the toxicity of nonelectrolyte organic compounds, and corresponds to minimum or baseline toxicity. Quantitative structure-activity relationships for chemicals acting by this mechanism for various organisms and routes of exposure provide a valuable probe for determining whether or not a candidate chemical acts via narcosis or by an electrophile, proelectrophile, cyanogenic, or other more specific molecular mechanism.