Mobility of Dicamba, Picloram and 2,4-D in Soil Columns

Abstract

The movement of dicamba (3,6-dichloro-o-anisic acid), picloram (4-amino-3,5,6-trichloropicolinic acid), and 2,4-D [(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)acetic acid] was studied in five Canadian prairie soils using soil columns. The three acid herbicides showed the following general order of decreasing mobility in the five soils: Asquith sandy loam > Indian Head loam > Regina heavy clay > Weyburn Oxbow loam > Melfort loam, thus indicating an inverse relationship between adsorption and mobility. In general, the distribution coefficients (kd) were comparable to the corresponding Freundlich constants (k) and these were significantly related to the soil organic matter content, to a lesser extent to soil pH, and not correlated with soil clay content. The maximum concentrations of all three herbicides in the column effluents were well below their respective water solubilities and were inversely related to the distribution coefficients. The calculated values for the amounts of precipitation required to leach the three herbicides to a depth of 10 cm showed the following order of mobility: dicamba > picloram > 2,4-D.