Atrazine and Metolachlor in Subsurface Drain Water in Louisiana
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 116, Issue 1
Abstract
Atrazine and metolachlor are applied preemergent to corn in plots that are either drained (10‐cm plastic tubes 1‐m deep) or undrained. Herbicide concentrations in the soil profile down to 30 cm and in the drain water are measured for 243 days. The pesticides show a steady disappearance from the soil with pseudo first‐order half‐lives (no difference between drained and undrained plots) in the top 2.5 cm of soil of 35–36 days for atrazine and 20–23 days for metolachlor. Total loss of atrazine through soil leaching amounts to 0.038% of the application rate; 97% of this loss occurs within 78 days after application during a period of 530 mm of rain. All (0.13% of that applied) of the metolachlor in the drain water is observed within 59 days after application. The results of the study illustrate the strong correlation between pesticide soil persistence, water solubility, rainfall timing, and pesticide leaching through soil.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Bengtson, R. L., et al. (1985). “Effect of subsurface drainage in the Lower Mississippi River Valley on surface water quality.” Development and management aspects of irrigation and drainage systems, C. G. Keyes, Jr., and T. J. Ward, eds., American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, N.Y., 337–344.
2.
Beste, C. E., et al., eds. (1983). Herbicide handbook of the Weed Science Society of America. 5th ed., Weed Science Society of America, Champaign, Ill.
3.
Carroll, B. R., Willis, G. H., and Graves, J. B. (1981). “Permethrin concentration on cotton plants, persistence in soil, and loss in runoff.” J. Envir. Qual., 10(4), 497–500.
4.
Cheng, H. H., and Koskinen, W. C. (1986). “Processes and factors affecting transport of pesticides to ground water.” Evaluation of pesticides in ground water (ACS Symp. Series 315), W. Y. Garner, R. C. Honeycutt, and H. N. Nigg, eds., American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., 2–13.
5.
Cohen, S. Z., Eiden, C., and Lorber, M. N. (1986). “Monitoring groundwater for pesticides.” Evaluation of pesticides in ground water (ACS Symp. Series 315), W. Y. Garner, R. C. Honeycutt, and H. N. Nigg, eds., American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., 170–196.
6.
Garner, W. Y., Honeycutt, R. C., and Nigg, H. N., eds. (1986). Evaluation of pesticides in ground water (ACS Symp. Series 315), American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C.
7.
Ghadiri, H., et al. (1984). “Atrazine dissipation in conventional‐till and no‐till sorghum.” J. Envir. Qual., 13(4), 549–552.
8.
Goring, C. A. I., and Hamaker, J. W., eds. (1972). Organic chemicals in the soil environment. Vols. 1 and 2, Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, N.Y.
9.
Helling, C. S., and Gish, T. J. (1986). “Soil characteristics affecting pesticide movement into ground water.” Evaluation of pesticides in ground water (ACS Symp. Series 315), W. Y. Garner, R. C. Honeycutt, and H. N. Nigg, eds., American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., 14–38.
10.
Hiltbold, A. E., and Buchanan, G. A. (1977). “Influence of soil pH on persistence of atrazine in the field.” Weed Science, 25(6), 515–520.
11.
Isensee, A. R., et al. (1988). “Groundwater residues of atrazine, alachlor, and cyanazine under no‐tillage practices.” Chemosphere, 17(1), 165–174.
12.
Jury, W. A., Spencer, W. F., and Farmer, W. J. (1984). “Behavior assessment model for trace organics in soil: III. Application of screening model.” J. Envir. Qual., 13(4), 573–579.
13.
Kaufman, D. D., et al., eds. (1976). Bound and conjugated pesticide residues (ACS Symp. Series 29), American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C.
14.
Laskowski, D. A., et al. (1982). “Terrestrial environment.” Environmental risk analysis for chemicals, R. A. Conway, ed., Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, N.Y., 198–240.
15.
Leonard, R. A., and Knisel, W. G. (1988). “Evaluating groundwater contamination potential from herbicide use.” Weed Tech., 2(2), 207–216.
16.
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. Agr. Food Chem., 24(1), 122–125.
17.
Office of Drinking Water Health Advisory on Atrazine. (1988a). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.
18.
Office of Drinking Water Health Advisory on Metolachlor. (1988b). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.
19.
Pionke, H. B., et al. (1988). “Pesticide contamination of groundwaters in the Mahantango Creek watershed.” J. Envir. Qual., 17(1), 76–84.
20.
Rao, P. S. C., et al. (1986). “Spatial variability of pesticide sorption and degradation parameters.” Evaluation of pesticides in ground water, W. Y. Garner, R. C. Honeycutt, and H. N. Nigg, eds., American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., 100–115
21.
Ritter, W. F., Chirnside, A. E. M., and Scarborough, R. W. (1987). “Pesticide leaching in a coastal plain soil.” Paper 87‐2630, St. Joseph, Mich.
22.
Wagenet, R. J., and Rao, P. S. C. (1985). “Basic concepts of modeling pesticide fate in the crop root zone.” Weed Sci., 33(Supplement 2), 25–32.
23.
Wauchope, R. D. (1978). “The pesticide content of surface water draining from agricultural fields—a review.” J. Envir. Qual., 7(4), 459–472.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1990 ASCE.
History
Published online: Jan 1, 1990
Published in print: Jan 1990
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.