Aerobic metabolism of diclosulam on U.S. and South American soils.

Degradation of the sulfonanilide herbicide diclosulam was studied on nine soils from three countries to determine the rates and products of aerobic metabolism. Diclosulam was applied to four agricultural soils from the United States, three from Argentina, and two from Brazil at a rate of 0.1 ppm, equivalent to approximately twice the maximum field application rate of 52 g of active ingredient/ha. U.S. and Brazilian soils were incubated in the dark at 25 degrees C at 75% 0.3 bar moisture; Argentinean soils were incubated in the dark at 20 degrees C and 45% moisture holding capacity. Samples were analyzed up to one year after treatment. Two-compartment DT(50) and DT(90) values averaged 28 +/- 12 and 190 +/- 91 days, respectively. Three soil metabolites reached levels of >10% of applied in at least one soil and were identified as the 5-hydroxy analogue of diclosulam (5-OH-diclosulam), aminosulfonyl triazolopyrimidine (ASTP), and the 8-chloro-5-hydroxy analogue of diclosulam (8-Cl-diclosulam). The terminal products of diclosulam soil metabolism were mineralization to CO(2) and bound soil residues. Apparent sorption coefficients (K(d)) were determined on a subset of samples by extraction with a 0. 01 M CaCl(2) solution followed by an acidified acetone extraction. Initial sorption coefficients were similar to those obtained in a batch equilibrium study and averaged 1.1 L/kg for the six soils tested. K(d) coefficients for the metabolites, when available, tended to be slightly lower than that for diclosulam. Sorptivity of diclosulam and degradates increased with time.