Degradation study of selected organophosphorus insecticides in natural waters

The degradation of 15 organophosphorus insecticides was studied in drinking, ground, and surface waters under different laboratory-controlled and environmental conditions. Surface waters originated from rivers Savinja (near the city of Celje) and Kamniska Bistrica (at the spring), which both belong to the Danube river basin. Groundwater was collected from wells (70m deep) in Ljubljana, which are the direct source of drinking water for the capital. These matrices were selected on the basis of their different chemical composition and microbial activity. Major factors influencing the degradation were determined, such as temperature, oxygen, sunlight, pH, and type of water. The degradation of atrazine, present in many water sources in Slovenija, was followed simultaneously as a reference under the same conditions. The degradation kinetics was followed by gas chromatography with mass-selective detection, which also allowed the identification of some degradation by-products, such as oxon analogues paraoxon, dyfoxon, malaoxon, phenyl-methyl sulfoxide, fenthion sulfone, phorate sulfoxide, and phorate sulfone. The results show that the half-lives of the selected organophosphorus insecticides varied from 4 to 192 days or more, depending on the water source and experimental conditions. As a result, kinetically constants and half-lives were calculated for every tested insecticide, and major degradation products were determined.