Stimulation of Methanogenesis by Aldicarb and Several Other N -Methyl Carbamate Pesticides

Abstract

Aldicarb and several other N -methyl carbamate pesticides stimulated methane production in anaerobic salt marsh soils and organic-rich aquifer soils. Stimulation was biological and linearly related to the amount of carbamate added. Of the four carbamates studied, methomyl gave the greatest stimulation followed by carbaryl, aldicarb, and baygon. The percent conversions [(moles of CH 4 in excess of control/mole of carbamate added) × 100] for methomyl, carbaryl, aldicarb, and baygon were 88, 57, 40, and 11, respectively. Using aldicarb as a model carbamate, we found that monomethylamine (MA) accumulated in sediments as a result of aldicarb addition. MA arises from the N -methyl carbamoyl portion of the carbamates as a result of presumptive biological hydrolysis. MA levels decreased as CH 4 production was stimulated, and 2-bromoethane sulfonic acid (a specific inhibitor of mathanogenesis) partially inhibited the loss of MA. These findings suggest that N -methyl carbamates are readily hydrolyzed to MA in the presence of an active microbial population under anaerobic conditions and that methanogenesis is stimulated as a result of the consumption of MA by methanogenic bacteria.