Persistence of acetochlor, atrazine, and S-metolachlor in surface and subsurface horizons of 2 typic argiudolls under no-tillage.

Variations in soil properties with depth strongly influence the degradation and persistence of herbicides, underlining the importance of studying these processes in soil horizons with distinctively different properties. The persistence of the herbicides acetochlor, atrazine, and S-metolachlor was measured in samples of the A, B, and C horizons of 2 Typic Argiudolls from Argentina under no-till management. The soils studied differed in soil organic carbon (OC) content, pH, particle size distribution, and structure. Quantification of herbicides in soil was done through high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector. There were interactions of herbicide × horizon (p < 0.01) that resulted in degradation rates (k) of all herbicides decreasing, and their corresponding dissipation half-life (DT50) values increasing, with soil depth. Herbicide persistence across all soils and horizons ranged from 15 to 73 d for acetochlor, 13 to 29 d for atrazine, and 82 to 141 d for S-metolachlor, which had significantly (p < 0.01) greater persistence than atrazine and acetochlor. The DT50 values of herbicides were negatively correlated with the contents of OC (correlation coefficients ranging from -0.496 to -0.773), phosphorus (-0.427 to -0.564), and nitrogen-nitrate (-0.507 to -0.662), and with microbial activity (-0.454 to -0.687) and the adsorption coefficient (-0.530 to -0.595); DT50s were positively correlated with pH (0.366 to 0.648). Adsorption was likely the most influential process in determining persistence of these herbicides in surface and subsurface horizons. The present study can potentially improve the prediction of the fate of acetochlor, atrazine, and S-metolachlor in soils because it includes much needed information on the degradation of the herbicides in subsurface horizons. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:3065-3073. © 2017 SETAC.