Spatial and Temporal Distribution Characteristics of Triazine Herbicides in Typical Agricultural Regions of Liaoning, China.

The aim of the current study was to track the composition, spatial and temporal distribution charactistics of triazine herbicides in arable soils and corns in typical agricultural regions of Liaoning Province, China. All samples were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Twelve kinds of triazine herbicides were found including atrazine, simazine, prometryn, propazine, ametryn, metribuzin, simetryn, aziprotryne, cyanizine, atrazine-desethyl, atrazine-desisopropyl and atrazine-desethyl-desisopropyl in the soil samples, of which atrazine, simazine, prometryn, atrazine-desethyl and atrazine-desethyl-desisopropyl were proved to be the predominant species with a high incidence though relatively low contamination level. The maximum concentration of atrazine in the soils was 73.80 µg·kg. Five kinds of triazine herbicides were found in corns in the region including atrazine, simazine, prometryn, atrazine-desethyl and atrazine-desethyl-desisopropyl with the detection rate 96.4%, 17.8%, 14.3%, 60.7% and 46.4%, respectively. The maximum contaminant level of atrazine in corns was 12.52 µg·kg, which is lower than that regulated in the National Standard of the People's Republic of China (GB2763-2012).