title: Fate and distribution of 14C-atrazine in a tropical oxisol.
abstract: The herbicide atrazine is the most commonly detected pesticide in groundwater world-wide. A new microcosm test-system was used to determine the fate of 14C-atrazine in a Brazilian oxisol. 14C Ring-labelled atrazine was applied in a mixture with the commercial product Gesaprim 500 (Novartis) at a rate of 3 kg ha-1. During two months, about 1% of the initially applied amount was lost by volatilization. The mineralization of the pesticide, measured directly using 14CO2 evolved from the applied pesticide, was between 0.09% and 0.16%, whereas less than 0.2% was leached. The distribution of radioactivity in the soil profile showed that most of the radioactivity remained in the top soil down to a 3 cm depth. The radioactivity in the upper 3 cm of the column was adsorbed perferably in fulvic acid (FA) and human fractions.
authors.affiliation: Institute de Microbiologia, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Langenbach
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schroll
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paim
mesh_terms: D001280:Atrazine / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D001938:Brazil; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D017753:Ecosystem; D006540:Herbicides / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism*; D014835:Volatilization
chemical_list: D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D006540:Herbicides; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D001280:Atrazine