Sulcotrione versus atrazine transport and degradation in soil columns

• Published in: Pest management science Vol. 61; no. 9; pp. 899 - 904
• Main Authors: Cherrier, Richard, Boivin, Arnaud, Perrin-Ganier, Corinne, Schiavon, Michel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.09.2005
• ISSN: 1526-498X
• DOI: 10.1002/ps.1108

A soil column experiment under outdoor conditions was performed to monitor the fate of 14C-ring-labelled sulcotrione, 2-(2-chloro-4-mesylbenzoyl)cyclohexane-1,3-dione and atrazine, 6-chloro-N2-ethyl-N4-isopropyl-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine, in water leachates and in the ploughed horizon of a sandy loam soil. Two months after treatment, the cumulative amounts of herbicide residues leached from the soil were 14.5% and 7% of the applied radioactivity for sulcotrione and atrazine, respectively. Maximum leachate concentrations for each herbicide were observed during the first month following application: 120 and 95 µg litre-1 for sulcotrione and atrazine respectively. After 2 weeks, 78% of the sulcotrione and atrazine was extractable from the soil, whereas after two months only 10 and 4%, respectively, could be extracted. The maximum sulcotrione content in the first 10 cm of soil was identical with that of atrazine. For both molecules, the content of non-extractable residues was low, being around 15%. Sulcotrione seems to be more mobile than atrazine but the consequences for water contamination are similar since lower doses are used.