Environmental fate of the herbicide fluazifop-P-butyl and its degradation products in two loamy agricultural soils: A combined laboratory and field study

The herbicide fluazifop-P-butyl (FPB) is used against grasses in agricultural crops such as potato, oilseed rape, and sugar beet. Limited information is available in scientific literature on its environmental fate, therefore extensive monitoring at two agricultural test fields was combined with laboratory studies to determine leaching and the underlying degradation and sorption processes. Water samples from drains, suction cups, and groundwater wells showed leaching of the degradation products fluazifop-P (FP) and 2-hydroxy-5-trifluoromethyl-pyridin (TFMP) following FPB treatment. Laboratory experiments with soil from each field revealed a rapid degradation of FPB to FP. The degradation was almost exclusively microbial, and further biodegradation to TFMP occurred at a slower rate. Both degradation products were sorbed to the two soils to a small extent and were fairly persistent to degradation during the two-month incubation period. Together, the field and laboratory results from this study showed that the biodegradation of FPB in loamy soils gave rise to the production of two major degradation products that sorbed to a small extent. In this study, both degradation products leached to drainage and groundwater during precipitation. It is therefore recommended that these degradation products be included in programs monitoring water quality in areas with FPB use.