Movement and degradation of aldicarb residues in South Carolina loamy sand soil

The movement and degradation of aldicarb (2-methyl-2-(methylthio)propionaldehyde O-(methylcarbamoyl)oxime) residues was measured in a Dotham loamy sand soil in Barnwell County in southern South Carolina. The experiment was designed to compare movement in a fallow plot versus a soya bean plot and to compare residue results from soil suction lysimeters and soil samples. The soil sample data indicate that aldicarb degraded at a rate corresponding to a half life of approximately 9 days with essentially no residues present 4 months after application. This degradation rate is faster than the 14–39-day half-life measured in nearby states. Because this relatively rapid degradation rate generally constrained residue movement to the upper 0.3 m in both plots (resulting in no significant residues in the lysimeters and monitoring wells), comparison between data from soil cores and suction lysimeters was not possible and the reduced evapotranspiration in the fallow plot had little effect on residue movement. Simulations using the unsaturated zone model PRZM with rainfall records from 15 years were used to illustrate that aldicarb residues should be limited to the upper 1.5 m, regardless of year-to-year variations in rainfall.