Impact of soil primary size fractions on sorption and desorption of atrazine on organo-mineral fractions

In the current study, a mechanical dispersion method was employed to separate clay (<2 mu m), silt (2-20 mu m), and sand (20-50 mu m) fraction in six bulk soils. Batch equilibrium method was used to conduct atrazine sorption and desorption experiments on soil organo-mineral fractions with bulk soils and their contrasting size fractions separately. The potential contribution of total organic carbon (TOC) for atrazine retention in different fractions was further investigated. It was found that clay fraction had the highest adsorption but the least desorption capacities for atrazine, while sand fraction had the lowest adsorption but the highest desorption capacities for atrazine. The adsorption percentage of atrazine, as compared with adsorption by the corresponding bulk soils, ranged from 53.6 to 80.5 %, 35.7 to 56.4 %, and 0.2 to 4.5 % on the clay, silt, and sand fractions, respectively. TOC was one of the key factors affecting atrazine retention in soils, with the exact contribution dependent on varying degree of coating with mineral component in different soil size fractions. The current study may be useful to predict the bioavailability of atrazine in different soil size fractions.