Effects of soil phosphorus status on environmental risk assessment of glyphosate and glufosinate-ammonium.

The increased use of herbicides poses a risk to the aquatic environment. Easy and economical methods are needed to identify the fields where specific environment protection measures are needed. Phosphorus (P) and organophosphorus herbicides compete for the same adsorption sites in soil.

Fate of the herbicides glyphosate, glufosinate-ammonium, phenmedipham, ethofumesate and metamitron in two Finnish arable soils.

The fate of five herbicides (glyphosate, glufosinate-ammonium, phenmedipham, ethofumesate and metamitron) was studied in two Finnish sugar beet fields for 26 months. Soil types were sandy loam and clay. Two different herbicide-tolerant sugar beet cultivars and three different herbicide application schedules were used.

Adsorption of sugar beet herbicides to Finnish soils.

Three sugar beet herbicides, ethofumesate, phenmedipham and metamitron, are currently used on conventional sugar beet cultivation, while new varieties of herbicide resistant (HR) sugar beet, tolerant of glyphosate or glufosinate-ammonium, are under field testing in Finland. Little knowledge has so far been available on the adsorption of these herbicides to Finnish soils. The adsorption of these five herbicides was studied using the batch equilibrium method in 21 soil samples collected from different depths.