ADSORPTION AND DESORPTION OF UREA HERBICIDES ON SOILS

Abstract

The adsorption/desorption potential of several phenylurea herbicides was studied on representative prairie soils, using slurry-type adsorption experiments. The herbicides showed the following order of increasing tendency to be adsorbed: fenuron < monuron [Formula: see text] monolinuron < metobromuron < diuron [Formula: see text] linuron [Formula: see text] chlorbromuron. The relative adsorption of each herbicide on various soil types was significantly correlated with the soil organic matter content, but not with the clay content. The relationship between the k value and the soil organic matter content was found to be of the exponential type. The extent of adsorption was also inversely related to the order of their water solubilities. The urea herbicides were readily desorbed by water from the low to medium organic matter content sandy loam and heavy clay soils, but not from a loam with very high organic matter content. It is suggested that the relative adsorption/desorption potential of a herbicide may provide a mechanism by which soil applied herbicides can be biologically inactivated more readily in soils of high organic matter content.