ASTER: an integration of the AQUIRE data base and the QSAR system for use in ecological risk assessments

Ecological risk assessments are used by the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and other governmental agencies to assist in determining the probability and magnitude of deleterious effects of hazardous chemicals on plants and animals. These assessments are important steps in formulating regulatory decisions. The completion of an ecological risk assessment requires the gathering of ecotoxicological hazard and environmental exposure information. This information is evaluated in the risk characterization section to assist in making the final risk assessment. ASTER (ASsessment Tools for the Evaluation of Risk) was designed by the US EPA Environmental Research Laboratory-Duluth (ERL-D) to assist regulators in producing assessments. ASTER is an integration of the ACQUIRE (AQUatic toxicity Information REtrieval system) and QSAR (Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships) systems. ACQUIRE is a data base of aquatic toxicity tests and QSAR is comprised of a data base of measured physicochemical properties, and various QSAR models that estimate physicochemical and ecotoxicological endpoints. ASTER will be available to international governmental agencies through the US EPA National Computing Center.