Enviromental behavior of sulfentrazone and fipronil in a Brazilian clayey latosol: field experiment and simulation

Abstract

There has been an urgent need to assess pesticide environmental behavior under Brazilian field conditions and to evaluate the risks associated to its use in agriculture. Besides a qualitative and quantitative interpretation of field experiments to acquire understanding about pesticide environmental behaviour, field experiments are important to test pesticide fate models. Environmental behaviour of fipronil and sulfentrazone in a sugarcane area in Dourados, MS, was evaluated until 257 days after application. Moreover, the PEARL model was tested to simulate the fate of these two pesticides in the field. Soil samples for pesticide residue quantification and water content were taken at 0-10, 10-30, 30-50, 50-70 and 70-100 cm depth. There was a fast dissipation of both pesticides at soil surface within 15 days after application and their leaching was not beyond 30 cm depth. Dissipation and leaching satisfactory simulations for both pesticides were achieved only after calibration of half-life values or using a reduced initial dose. This study shows that fast dissipation of pesticides in the field can be an important process to consider when assessing the environmental behavior of pesticides in Brazil.