Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part B: Pesticides, Food Contaminants and Agricultural Wastes 2011-01-01

The adsorption and degradation of chlorpyriphos-methyl, pendimethalin and metalaxyl in solid urban waste compost.

Andrea Baglieri, Mara Gennari, Maria Arena, Cristina Abbate

Index: J. Environ. Sci. Health B 46(6) , 454-60, (2011)

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Abstract

To evaluate the feasibility of using compost to prepare substrates for the disposal of pesticide residues, adsorption and degradation studies were carried out on three widely used agricultural pesticides: chlorpyriphos-methyl, pendimethalin and metalaxyl. Obtained from solid urban waste, this compost has been shown to be able to adsorb high levels of chlorpyriphos-methyl and pendimethalin (85%, 100%) whereas metalaxyl was only adsorbed at a level of 37%. However, adding smectite to the compost increased the adsorption of metalaxyl by 117%. Chlorpyriphos-methyl and pendimethalin degraded quickly with half-lives of 1.7 and 14.5 days, respectively, whereas metalaxyl proved more persistent (a half-life of 84 days). Adding ammonium nitrate to the compost accelerated metalaxyl degradation to a half-life of 15 days.