Effect of undesalted dissolved organic matter from composts on persistence, adsorption, and mobility of cyhalofop herbicide in soils.

The effect of undesalted dissolved organic matter (DOM) extracted from composts on the degradation, adsorption, and mobility of cyhalofop herbicide in soils was studied. A paddy-field sediment poor in organic matter (OM), an OM-rich forest soil, and DOM from agroindustrial or municipal waste compost were used. DOM increased the cyhalofop-acid but not the cyhalofop-butyl solubility in water. The degradation of cyhalofop-butyl in the sediment was slow, giving cyhalofop-acid as the only metabolite, whereas in forest soil, the process was faster, and three byproducts were detected. Soil pretreatment with DOM did not modify the degradation pattern but only reduced the adsorption of cyhalofop-butyl by soil, whereas it increased the adsorption of cyhalofop-acid. Among the cationic components of DOM solutions, the potassium ion seems to be related to the increased adsorption of the cyhalofop-acid in both OM-poor and OM-rich soils, yielding reversible complexes with the former and favoring hydrophobic interactions with the latter.

Behavior of a fenhexamid photoproduct during the alcoholic fermentation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The fungicide fenhexamid [N-(2,3-dichloro-4-hydroxyphenyl)-1-methylcyclohexanecarboxamide] degraded rapidly by UV or sunlight irradiation, yielding 7-chloro-6-hydroxy-2-(1-methylcyclohexyl)-1,3-benzoxazole (CHB) as a main photoproduct. CHB was isolated, and its effect on alcoholic fermentation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was studied. The results indicate that the presence of CHB does not affect the extent of alcohol production. After 12 days, the amount of CHB in the fermentation medium decreased by ca. 65%. Only 25% of the missing CHB was recovered unchanged from yeasts, most likely because it was adsorbed on the yeast wall cell. The remaining part degraded during the fermentation process. Glucan and chitin, two potential adsorbents, which constitute yeast cell walls, exhibited affinity for CHB.