Atrazine and metolachlor in surface runoff under typical rainfall conditions in southern Louisiana.

Atrazine and metolachlor are commonly detected in surface water bodies in southern Louisiana. These herbicides are frequently applied in combination to corn, and atrazine to sugarcane, in this region. A study was conducted on the runoff of atrazine and metolachlor from 0.21 ha plots planted to corn on Commerce silt loam, a Mississippi River alluvial soil. The study, carried out over a three-year period characterized by rainfall close to the 30-year average, provided data on persistence in the surface soil (top 2.5 cm layer) and in the runoff active zone of the soil, as measured by decrease in runoff concentrations with time after application. Regression equations were developed that allow an estimate of the runoff extraction coefficients for each herbicide. Atrazine showed soil half-lives in the range 10.5-17.3 days, and metolachlor exhibited half-lives from 15.8-28.0 days. Concentrations in successive runoff events declined much faster than those in the surface soil layer: Atrazine runoff concentrations decreased over successive runoff events with a half-life from 0.6 to 5.7 days, and metolachlor in runoff was characterized by half-lives of 0.6-6.4 days. That is, half-lives of the two herbicides in the runoff-active zone were one-tenth to one-half as long as the respective half-lives in the surface soil layer. Within years, the half-lives of these herbicides in the runoff active zone varied from two-thirds longer for metolachlor in 1996 to one-fifth longer for atrazine in 1995. The equations relating runoff concentrations of atrazine and metolachlor to soil concentrations contain extraction coefficients of 0.009. Losses in runoff for atrazine were 5.2-10.8% of applied, and for metolachlor they were 3.7-8.0%; atrazine losses in runoff were 20-40% higher than those for metolachlor. These relatively high percent of application losses indicate the importance of practices that reduce runoff of these chemicals from alluvial soils of southern Louisiana.

Recovery of atrazine, bromacil, chlorpyrifos, and metolachlor from water samples after concentration on solid-phase extraction disks: interlaboratory study.

An interlaboratory comparison was conducted in 1997 and 1998 to examine the feasibility of using C18 solid-phase extraction disks (Empore) to simultaneously determine the herbicides atrazine, bromacil, and metolachlor and the insecticide chlorpyrifos in water samples. A common fortification source and sample processing procedure were used to minimize variation in initial concentrations and operator inconsistencies. The protocol consisted of paired laboratories in different locations coordinating their activities and shipping fortified water samples (deionized or local surface water) or Empore disks on which the pesticides had been retained and then quantitating the analytes by a variety of gas chromatographic methods. Average recoveries from all laboratories were >80% for atrazine, bromacil, and metolachlor, and >70% for chlorpyrifos. Detection of bromacil was unachievable at some locations because of chromatographic problems. Shipping samples between cooperating laboratories did not affect the recovery of atrazine, chlorpyrifos, or metolachlor in either matrix. Recoveries tended to be higher from disks shipped to cooperating laboratories compared with those from fortified water. Shipping disks eliminated many problems associated with the shipment of water samples, such as bottle breakage, higher shipping cost, and possible pesticide degradation. Recoveries of bromacil and metolachlor were lower from fortified surface water samples than from fortified deionized water samples. This collaborative research demonstrated that pesticides in water samples can be concentrated on solid-phase extraction disks at one location and quantitated under diverse analytical conditions at another location. The extraction efficiencies of the disks were comparable with or better than the recoveries obtained from the shipped water samples, and the problems associated with shipping water samples were eliminated by using the disks.

Effect of subsurface drains on runoff losses of metolachlor and trifluralin from Mississippi River alluvial soil.

Subsurface drains reduced runoff losses of metolachlor and trifluralin from plots on Mississippi River alluvial soil planted with soybean. The drains reduced metolachlor runoff losses by 90% and trifluralin losses by 57%. Concomitantly, runoff volume was reduced 24% and soil erosional losses by 75%. The large reduction of metolachlor losses in runoff was due to a first event from the nondrained plot that was characterized by high chemical concentration, a characteristic that was not duplicated in the corresponding events from the drained plots. Due to low sediment concentrations in runoff and to low water solubility,trifluralin loss in runoff, even from the nondrained treatment, was less than 0.2% of the application.

Carbaryl washoff from soybean plants.

Both the efficacy and fate of most foliar-applied pesticides may be affected by weather variables, especially rain. A multiple-intensity rainfall simulator was used to determine the effects of rainfall intensity and amount on concentrations of carbaryl (Sevin(R) XLS Plus) washed from soybean plants. Two hours after carbaryl was applied at 1.12 kg/ha, 25 mm of rain was applied at intensities of 13.0, 27.4, 53.8, or 105.1 mm/h. About 67% of the carbaryl on the plants was washed off by 25 mm of rain. Rainfall intensity affected carbaryl concentrations in washoff; higher concentrations occurred at lower intensities. Even though the experimental conditions were designed for "worst-case" conditions, washoff patterns suggested improved carbaryl rainfastness when compared to carbaryl (formulated as a wettable powder) washoff from cotton plants in earlier studies. Rainfall amount had a greater effect on carbaryl concentrations in washoff than rainfall intensity.