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Degradation of Atrazine in Estuarine Water/Sediment Systems and Soils¹

ABSTRACT

Herbicides have been postulated as a cause of the disappearance of submerged aquatic vegetation in the Chesapeake Bay. This research was undertaken to determine the longevity of 2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine (atrazine) in two estuarine water/sediment microcosm systems and two agricultural soil systems over an 80-d period under aerobic and low-O₂ conditions. Atrazine degradation proceeded more rapidly in the estuarine systems than in the soil systems. The disappearance of atrazine from the estuarine water was relatively rapid, with the half-life (50% remaining in the water column) of the parent compound ranging from 3 to 12 d. Atrazine half-life was determined to be 15 and 20 d for the two estuarine sediments and 330 and 385 d for the two agricultural soils. Hydroxyatrazine (2-hydroxy-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine) was the major short-term metabolite in both the estuarine and terrestrial systems. By the 21st day of the experiment, the percent of total extracted residues corresponding to atrazine and hydroxyatrazine were: 65, 20 and 10, 85 for the two estuarine systems; and 66, 29 and 93, 5 for the two soil systems. Decreased O₂ levels had little effect on atrazine degradation in the experimental systems. The rapid degradation of atrazine to hydroxyatrazine in estuarine water and sediment indicates a low probability for the accumulation of atrazine in the estuary.

Key Words: herbicide • estuarine • decomposition • sorption • half-life • metabolites

¹ Contribution no. 1341 of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental and Estuarine Studies.

² Assistant Professor, Salisbury State College, Salisbury, MD 21801, also Visiting Assistant Professor, Horn Point Environmental Lab., Cambridge, MD 21613; Assistant Professors, Horn Point Environmental Lab.; and Assistant Professor, Chesapeake Biological Lab., Solomons, MD 20688; respectively.

Received for publication July 21, 1981.

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