Loss of carbofuran from rice paddy water: chemical and physical factors.

The loss of carbofuran was studied from rice paddy water treated with a granular formulation of the insecticide, and from ponds filled with drainage from the paddy. The average half-life (t 1/2) for carbofuran loss was 57 hr. Controlled experiments indicated that pH was the predominating factor governing carbofuran loss from water in the environment studied. The loss due to hydrolysis was over 700 times more rapid at pH (t 1/2 = 1.2 hr.) than at pH (t 1/2 = 864 hr.) in buffered deionized water. The average pH of the rice paddy was 8, but diurnal fluctuations of 7 to 9.5 are common in similar environments. Impurities in the water, sunlight, and temperature influence the rate of carbofuran loss but not nearly so much as pH. There was no evidence for significant loss due to evaporation or oxidation. The results have important implications for the duration of the insecticide's activity and the effect on fish within or downstream from treated paddies.