A new extraction method for benomyl residues in soil and its application in movement and persistence studies

Abstract

AbstractA simple and rapid method for extracting benomyl residues from soils was compared with previous methods. Soil was extracted by shaking for 2 h at room temperature with (1:1) acetone/M aqueous ammonium chloride followed by clean‐up by solvent partition and ultraviolet absorption estimation of carbendazim. Recoveries were comparable to those obtained by refluxing with methanolic hydrochloric acid for 4 h, hitherto the most efficient method reported, and were much greater than those obtained by extraction with ethyl acetate or chloroform. The new method gave more tractable extracts than those obtained by refluxing with methanolic hydrochloric acid, which form troublesome metal hydroxide precipitates during clean‐up. In field experiments with 2‐[14C]‐benomyl and 2‐[14C]‐carbendazim, no radioactivity was found more than 25 mm from the soil surface during 10 months after surface application of 1 kg/ha. Carbendazim residues in soils from three field experiments indicated that its persistence is very sensitive to soil pH. The time for 50% loss of initial dose ranged from 26 months at pH 5.5 to less than 3 months at pH 7.2. Biological effectiveness in a crop may therefore depend markedly on differences in soil pH.