Distribution of Arsenic in Soil Profiles after Repeated Applications of MSMA

Abstract

Arsenic as MSMA (monosodium methanearsonate) was applied to three soil types over a 6-year period. Percentage recovery of applied arsenic averaged 67, 57, and 39% in Hart-sells fine sandy loam, Decatur silt loam, and Dothan loamy sand soils, respectively. Essentially all of the arsenic recovered in the soils occurred in the plow layer with no evidence of leaching into deeper zones. Batch-equilibrium and soil-column studies in the laboratory indicated that the rate of MSMA movement through the surface horizon would be fastest in Dothan loamy sand and slowest in Decatur silt loam.