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Argentina stands as one of the leading consumers of herbicides. In a laboratory incubation experiment, the persistence and production of degradation metabolites of Atrazine, 2,4-D, and Glyphosate were investigated in a loamy clay soil under two contrasting agricultural practices: continuous soybean cultivation (T1) and intensified rotations with grasses and legumes (T2). The soils were collected from a long-term no-till trial replicating the influence of the meteorological conditions in the productive region. The soil was enriched with diluted concentrations of 6.71, 9.95, and 24 mg a.i./kg-1 of soil for the respective herbicides, equivalent to annual doses commonly used in the productive region. Samples were taken at intervals of 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32, and 64 days, and analysis was conducted using high-resolution liquid chromatography UPLC MS/MS. An optimal fit to the first-order kinetic model was observed for each herbicide in both rotations, resulting in relatively short half-lives. Intensified crop sequences favored the production of biotic degradation metabolites. The impact of the high frequency of soybean cultivation revealed a trend of soil acidification and a reduced biological contribution to attenuation processes in soil contamination.

Understanding herbicide sorption within soil profiles is the first step to predicting their behavior and leaching potential. Laboratory studies were conducted to determine the influence of surface and subsurface soil properties on acetochlor, atrazine, and S-metolachlor sorption. Soil samples were taken from horizons A, B, and C of two loamy soils of the humid pampas of Argentina under no-till management; horizon A was divided into two layers, A(0) (0-5 cm) and A(1) (5 cm to the full thickness of an A horizon). Sorption isotherms were determined from each sampled horizon using the batch equilibrium method and seven concentrations (0, 0.1, 0.5, 2.0, 5.0, 10.0, and 20.0 mg L(-1)). Sorption affinity of herbicides was approximated by the Freundlich equation. The sorption strength K(f) (mg(1 - 1/n) kg(-1) L(1/n) ) over the soils and horizons studied followed the order S-metolachlor (16.51-29.19) > atrazine (4.85-12.34) ≥ acetochlor (5.17-11.97), which was closely related to the hydrophobicity of herbicides expressed as octanol-water partition coefficient (K(OW) ). The K(f) values of the three herbicides were positively correlated with soil organic carbon, with a significance of p < 0.01. Values of K(f) for the three herbicides decreased with depth in the two soils, indicating greater sorption onto surficial soil horizons and possibly a delayed transport toward subsurface soils and subsequent pollution of groundwater., (Copyright © 2011 SETAC.)

Laboratory studies were conducted to determine the influence of surface and subsurface properties of three representative soils of the humid pampas of Argentina on atrazine and metribuzin sorption. Atrazine and metribuzin sorption isotherms were constructed for each soil at four depths. Sorption affinity of herbicides was approximated by the Freundlich constant (K(f)), distribution coefficient (Kd), and the normalized Kd based on organic carbon content (K(oc)). Multiple regression of the sorption constants against selected soil properties indicated that organic carbon content (OC) and silt were related positively and negatively, respectively, to atrazine K(f) coefficient (r2 = 0.93), while Kd coefficient of atrazine was related positively to organic carbon content and negatively to both silt and cation exchange capacity (CEC) (r2 = 0.96). For metribuzin, only organic matter content was related positively to Kr coefficient (r2 = 0.51). Lower K(f) values for atrazine were obtained for all soils with increasing depth, indicating lesser sorption at greater depths. Metribuzin sorption was quite similar across all depths. Sorption constant K(f) of atrazine ranged from 2.06 to 7.82, while metribuzin K(f) values ranged from 1.8 to 3.52 and were lower than atrazine for all soils and depths, indicating a greater leaching potential across the soil profile.

Highlights: [•] We measured pesticides concentrations in surface waters of Argentina. [•] Atrazine is the most ubiquitous contaminant in the four basins studied. [•] The surface run-off cause the movement of soil particles with pesticides adsorbed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]