Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Biodegradation of carbofuran and furathiocarb in soil: effect of pretreatment and microbial growth responses to carbofuran

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:6147927

The rate of degradation of carbofuran was measured in Norfolk loamy sand and Lynchburg sandy loam soils with no known history of pesticide treatment. Degradation was measured by trapping /sup 14/CO/sub 2/ evolved from /sup 14/C-carbonyl carbofuran applied to soil in flasks. Loamy sand soil pretreated with 9 ..mu..g x g/sup -1/ carbofuran completely degraded a second or third application of 9 ..mu..g x g/sup -1/ within 1-3 days, but <5% was degraded in soil treated for the first time. Nitrogen, applied as 100 ..mu..g x g/sup -1/ in NH/sub 4/NO/sub 3/, very slightly increased the rate of degradation of 9 ..mu..g x g/sup -1/ carbofuran in the pretreated soils. The rate of degradation of carbofuran in the pretreated soils can be described by 1st order kinetics. However, in the soil pretreated with 9 ..mu..g x g/sup -1/ carbofuran, the rate of degradation of an 8 ng x g/sup -1/ treatment was biphasic, with only 65% rapidly degraded within 2 days. This /sup 14/CO/sub 2/ evolution curve was best described by a two-compartment model for the degradation of low levels of organics in soil.

Research Organization:
Duke Univ., Durham, NC (USA)
OSTI ID:
6147927
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English