Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T10:39:35.413Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Formation and Movement of 14C-Atrazine Degradation Products in a Clay Loam Soil in the Field

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

Brent A. Sorenson
Affiliation:
Univ. Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108
William C. Koskinen
Affiliation:
Soil and Water Res. Unit, U.S. Dep. Agric., Agric. Res Serv., St. Paul, MN 55108
Douglas D. Buhler
Affiliation:
National Soil Tilth Lab., U.S. Dep. Agric., Agric. Res. Serv., Ames, IA 50011
Donald L. Wyse
Affiliation:
Dep. Agron. and Plant Genet., Univ. Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108
William E. Lueschen
Affiliation:
South. Exp. Stn., Univ. Minnesota, Waseca, MN 56093
Michael D. Jorgenson
Affiliation:
Univ. Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108

Abstract

Formation of 14C-atrazine degradation products and their distribution in the top 90 cm of soil was determined over 16 mo in a Webster clay loam in the field. After 16 mo, 64% of the applied 14C could still be accounted for in the 90-cm soil profile. At 1 mo after treatment (MAT), 14C moved to the 70- to 80-cm depth. Rapid movement of radioactivity could be attributed in part to preferential movement through vertical macropores. Atrazine accounted for 32% of the 14C applied 16 MAT and was the predominant 14C-compound in soil below 10 cm through 12 MAT. Hydroxyatrazine (HA) was the major degradation product in the top 10 cm of soil accounting for 9% of the 14C present 1 MAT and increasing to 24% within 6 MAT. Deethylatrazine (BEA) was the predominant degradation product at depths greater than 10 cm, accounting for 26% of the 14C in the 10- to 20-cm depth 16 MAT. Deisopropylatrazine (DIA) accounted for less than 10% of the 14C recovered at any soil depth. Deethyldeisopropylatrazine (DEDIA) and an unidentified product were detected in soil extracts 1 MAT indicating further degradation past primary metabolites. The proportion of DEA and DIA increased while the proportion of HA decreased as soil depth increased indicating that DEA and DIA are more mobile in soil than HA. The large amount of radioactivity remaining in the soil 16 MAT suggests that a large pool of atrazine and its degradation products are present in the soil for a long period of time, having the potential to move deeper in the soil and ultimately contaminate ground water.

Type
Soil, Air, and Water
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 by the Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

1. Adams, C. D. and Thurman, E. M. 1991. Formation and transport of deethylatrazine in soil and unsaturated zone. J. Environ. Qual. 20:540547.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2. Armstrong, D. E., Chesters, G., and Harris, R. F. 1967. Atrazine hydrolysis in soil. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 31:6166.Google Scholar
3. Barbee, G. C. and Brown, K. W. 1986. Comparison between suction and free-drainage soil solution samplers. Soil Sci. 141:149154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4. Behki, R. M. and Khan, S. U. 1986. Degradation of atrazine by Pseudomonas: N-dealkylation and dehalogenation of atrazine and its metabolites. J. Agric. Food Chem. 34:746749.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5. Beven, K. and Germann, P. 1982. Macropores and water flow in soils. Water Resour. Res. 18: 13111325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6. Bowman, B. T. 1990. Mobility and persistence of alachlor, atrazine and metolachlor in Plainfield sand, and atrazine and isazofos in Honey wood silt loam, using field lysimeters. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 9:453461.Google Scholar
7. Brouwer, W. W. M., Boesten, J. J. T. I., and Siegers, W. G. 1990. Adsorption of transformation products of atrazine by soil. Weed Res. 30:123128.Google Scholar
8. Capriel, P. and Haisch, A. 1983. Persistence of atrazine and its metabolites in soil after a single herbicide application. Weed Res. 30:123128.Google Scholar
9. Clay, S.A. and Koskinen, W. C. 1990. Adsorption and desorption of atrazine, hydroxyatrazine, and s-glutathione atrazine in two soils. Weed Sci. 38:262266.Google Scholar
10. Cook, A. M. and Hutter, R. 1981. s-triazines as nitrogen sources for bacteria. J. Agric. Food Chem. 29:11351143.Google Scholar
11. Gan, J., Koskinen, W. C., Becker, R. L., Buhler, D. D., and Jarvis, L. J. 1993. Biodegradation of alachlor and atrazine as a function of concentration in New Directions in Pesticide Research, Development, Management, and Policy. Virginia Water Resources Res. Ctr., Richmond, VA (in press).Google Scholar
12. Giardina, M. C., Giardi, M. T., and Filacchioni, G. 1980. 4-Amino-2-chloro-1,3,5-triazine: A new metabolite of atrazine by soil bacterium. Agric. Biol. Chem. 44:20672072.Google Scholar
13. Giardina, M. C., Giardi, M. T., and Filacchioni, G. 1982. Atrazine metabolism by Nocardia: Elucidation of initial pathway and synthesis of potential metabolites. Agric. Biol. Chem. 46:14391445.Google Scholar
14. Giardi, M. T., Giardina, M. C., and Filacchioni, G. 1985. Chemical and biological degradation of primary metabolites of atrazine by a Nocardia strain. Agric. Biol. Chem. 49:15511558.Google Scholar
15. Hall, J. K., Murray, M. R., and Hartwig, N. L. 1989. Herbicide leaching and distribution in tilled and untilled soil. J. Environ. Qual. 18:439445.Google Scholar
16. Isensee, A. R., Nash, R. G., and Helling, C. S. 1990. Effect of conventional vs. no-tillage on pesticide leaching to shallow groundwater. J. Environ. Qual. 19:434440.Google Scholar
17. Kaufman, D. D. and Blake, J. 1970. Degradation of atrazine by soil fungi. Soil Biol. Biochem. 2:7380.Google Scholar
18. Laird, D. A., Barriuso, E., Dowdy, R. H., and Koskinen, W. C. 1992. Adsorption of atrazine on smectites. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 56:6267.Google Scholar
19. Muir, D. C. and Baker, B. E. 1976. Detection of triazine herbicides and their degradation products in tile-drain water from fields under intensive corn (Maize) production. J. Agric. Food Chem. 24:122125.Google Scholar
20. Muir, D. C. G. and Baker, B. E. 1978. The disappearance and movement of three triazine herbicides and several of their degradation products under field conditions. Weed Res. 18:111120.Google Scholar
21. Pionke, H. B. and Glotfelty, D. W. 1990. Contamination of groundwater by atrazine and selected metabolites. Chemosphere 21:813822.Google Scholar
22. Ritter, W. F. 1990. Pesticide contamination of ground water in the United States—A review. J. Environ. Sci. Health Part B. 25:129.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23. Schiavon, M. 1988. Studies of the leaching of atrazine, of its chlorinated derivatives, and of hydroxyatrazine from soil using 14C ring-labeled compounds under outdoor conditions. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf. 15:4654.Google Scholar
24. Skipper, H. D., Gilmour, C. M., and Furtick, W. R. 1967. Microbial versus chemical degradation of atrazine in soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 31:653656.Google Scholar
25. Sorenson, B. A., Wyse, D. L., Koskinen, W. C., Buhler, D. D., Lueschen, W. E., and Jorgenson, M. D. 1993. Formation and movement of 14C-atrazine degradation products in a sandy loam soil under field conditions. Weed Sci. 41:239245.Google Scholar
26. Starr, J. L. and Glotfelty, D. E. 1990. Atrazine and bromide movement through a silt loam soil. J. Environ. Qual. 19:552558.Google Scholar