Utilization of carbon-rich waste materials to reduce pesticide movement to groundwater in a sandy coarse-textured soil

Guo, Lei

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/21431 Copy

Description

Title

Utilization of carbon-rich waste materials to reduce pesticide movement to groundwater in a sandy coarse-textured soil

Author(s)

Guo, Lei

Issue Date

1992

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Bicki, Thomas J.

Department of Study

Crop Sciences

Discipline

Crop Sciences

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Agriculture, Agronomy
• Environmental Sciences

Language

eng

Abstract

• Pesticide use on coarse-textured soils frequently leads to groundwater contamination. Based on the fact that organic carbon is the primary contributor to pesticide sorption in soil-water systems, a resolution of this problem is anticipated through external application of organic carbon sources. In this study, laboratory soil column leaching and greenhouse bioassay experiments were performed to examine effects of three organic carbon-rich wastes (i.e., waste activated carbon (WAC), digested municipal sewage sludge (DMS), and animal manure) on pesticide adsorption, leaching, and bioactivity in a sandy coarse-textured soil.
• It was observed that all the three organic carbon-rich waste materials were effective amendments in enhancing the soil adsorptivity towards the two model herbicides, atrazine (2-chlor-4-(ethylamino)-6-(isopropylamino)-s-trazine) and alachlor (2-chloro-2$\sp\prime$6$\sp\prime$-diethyl-N-(methoxymethyl)acetanilide), and in reducing their leaching. Ability of the three wastes to reduce leaching of atrazine followed the order WAC $>>$ DMS $>$ animal manure. WAC most effectively reduced leaching of alachlor and DMS was slightly more effective than manure. Amount of these two herbicides adsorbed on or leached through the amended soil was dependent upon both the sources of the external organic carbon and their application rates; WAC was the most potent amendment which effectively inhibited herbicide mobility at the rate of 0.5 mt C/ha. Higher rates (4.2 mt C/ha to 8.4 mt C/ha) were required to achieve effective inhibition for DMS and manure. Despite the fact that bioactivities of these two herbicides were both lower in the amended soil than in the unamended soil, the ED$\sb{50}$ values (the concentration of herbicide required to inhibit plant growth by 50%) were below 2 ppm in most of the amendment treatments. Findings of this study provide basic information for possible utilization of carbon-rich wastes in sandy coarse-textured soils to reduce leaching of pesticides to groundwater.

Type of Resource

text

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Copyright 1992 Guo, Lei

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