Fate of the herbicide metolachlor in aerobic and anaerobic soils

The fate of the herbicide metolachlor in aerobic and anaerobic soils with repeated applications of the metolachlor over a period of 5 years was studied. After 12 weeks incubation, cumulative 14CO2 evolution from the soil accounts for 8.01% in aerobic condition versus 1.5% of 14CO2 in the soil had not been treated with metolachlor. The total 14C recovery in the methanol-water extract and in the non-extractable portion of this aerobic soil accounted for 73.1% and the total metolachlor recovery in the methanol-water extract was 46.7% but 86.9% of 14C was accounted for in the γ-irradiated control soil. There axe no differences in the recovery of 14C between non-sterile and γ-irradiated control soil under anaerobic conditions. The results show that there was some active metolachlor-degrading population in the Virginia soil which had been previously received repeated applications of the metolachlor but only under aerobic condition.

Fate of the herbicide metolachlor in aerobic and anaerobic soils