Flumioxazin soil persistence and mineralization in laboratory experiments

Flumioxazin is an herbicide registered for use in soybean and peanut. However, few published papers concerning the soil persistence of flumioxazin are available. Therefore, laboratory studies were initiated to determine the half-life (t(1/2)) of flumioxazin in Greenville sandy clay loam and Tifton loamy sand soils when incubated at 15 and 25 degreesC. Results indicated that temperature had little effect on flumioxazin persistence. The t(1/2) for the Greenville soil was 17.9 and 16.0 days while the Tifton soil was 13.6 and 12.9 days, at 15 and 25 degreesC, respectively. These data correspond to the greater clay content of the Greenville soil (32%) as compared to the Tifton soil (2%). Therefore, the Greenville soil had greater soil adsorption and less flumioxazin was generally available to be degraded by soil microorganisms. In soils that were heat treated to reduce microbe populations, 99% of initial flumioxazin was accounted for after 16 days. Mineralization of flumioxazin, measured as (CO2)-C-14 evolution, was also greater in the Tifton soil (2.2% after 64 days) than in the Greenville soil (2.0% after 64 days). From these data, it was concluded that microbes were the most influential factor concerning the degradation of flumioxazin.