SOIL TYPE AND HERBICIDES ADSORPTION

Herbicides behaviour in soils greatly depends on adsorption through its influence on degradation and movement. The adsorption intensity depends on both the chemical structure of pesticides, the nature of soil constituents and soil physico-chemical factors such as the pH. In this paper, the role played by these factors is analysed and used to evaluate the possible use of soil surveys for assessing adsorption behaviour of pesticides in soils. The analysis is based on adsorption measurements of three herbicides (atrazine, terbutryn and 2,4-D) by several soils differing in their mineralogical composition, organic matter content and pH. Using statistical analysis, it is shown that some relations can be defined between soil types and adsorption behaviour. These relations are strongly dependent on the electrical state of the herbicide molecule (cationic, anionic and neutral). © 1992, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.