Dissipation of trinexapac-ethyl and its metabolite in wheat field ecosystems and microbial degradation in soil

To investigate the dissipation rate of trinexapac-ethyl and trinexapac in wheat ecosystem, field and microbial degradation experiments were designed and conducted. A simple and time-efficient analytical method for the determination of trinexapac-ethyl and trinexapac in wheat kernels, plants, straw and soil, using high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectroscopy (HPLC–MS/MS) was developed. The mean recoveries of trinexapac-ethyl and trinexapac in four matrices at three spiking levels ranged from 72.0% to 108.2%, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) ranged from 2.1% to 11.0%. In supervised field trials, the half-lives of trinexapac-ethyl in the plants were 0.93 and 2.36 d in Shandong and Tianjin, respectively; and those of trinexapac in soil and plants were 1.66 and 1.45 d in Shandong and 2.32 and 1.74 d in Tianjin. In microbial degradation experiment, the results show that the soil microbial communities have effects on their dissipation in the time scale employed.