Measuring and predicting environmental concentrations of pesticides in air after application to paddy water systems.

In this study, the volatilization of five pesticides applied to an artificial flooded paddy field was assessed using the theoretical profile shape (TPS) and the integrate horizontal flux (IHF) techniques. The dataset derived was utilized to improve the volatilization routine of the rice water quality (RICEWQ) model. The masses of pesticides ethoprophos, procymidone, metalaxyl, chlorpyrifos, and chlorpyrifos methyl volatilized from paddy water and their concentrations in paddy water were determined for a period of 6 d after application. The highest and lowest volatilization losses were observed for chlorpyrifos and metalaxyl, respectively, accounting for 3.3% and 0.03% of their initially applied amount. A rapid pesticide dissipation was evident in paddy water during the study period. The RICEWQ model was used to simulate the fate of pesticides in the artificial paddy system. The Kvolat, an empiric coefficient used by the model as an input parameter, was calculated for all pesticides through model calibration. RICEWQ simulated well the fate of pesticides in paddy water. A significant regression correlation between Henry's law constant (Hk) and Kvolat of the studied compounds was established which could facilitate the parametrization of the model for describing pesticide volatilization.