Sorption, mineralization and mobility of N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine (glyphosate) in five different types of gravel.

Sorption, mineralization and mobility of glyphosate were studied in six substrates: the five types of gravel most frequently used as surfacing in Denmark and a sandy agricultural soil from Simmelkaer that served as a reference soil. Cumulative mineralization of [methyl-14C]glyphosate in batch studies was highest in coarse gravel, amounting to 14% after 4 days at 30 degrees C and 32% after 31 days. Mineralization was slowest in the sandy reference soil, amounting to only 2% after 31 days. The adsorption coefficient (Kd) of glyphosate in gravel ranged from 62 to 164 litre kg(-1), while that in the sandy reference soil was 410 litre kg(-1). The results indicate that the relatively low Kd in gravel allows a relatively high rate of glyphosate mineralization by the biomass. When Kd is high, in contrast, mineralization is slow. Lowering the temperature to 10 degrees C decreased mineralization by 50% in one of two gravels. The leaching of glyphosate was screened in simple columns of gravel or soil in which precipitation events (20 mm over a 2-h period) were simulated on three occasions, starting either immediately after or 2 days after application of glyphosate. [14C]Glyphosate was applied as a tracer mixed with the commercial product Roundup Garden at the recommended rate of 2.4 kg glyphosate ha(-1), equivalent to 1 microg g(-1) soil. The highest concentration of [14C] compounds (expressed in terms of glyphosate concentration) in leachate from the columns exceeded 1300 microg litre(-1), and was detected in rounded gravel after the first rain event. No glyphosate was detected in leachate from the sandy reference soil.