CHLORTHAL DEGRADATION IN SOILS AND ITS UPTAKE BY PINE SEEDLINGS

Abstract

Summary. Similar chlorthal (dimethyl 2,3,.5,6‐tetrachloroterephthalate) degradation patterns were found in pot cultures of white pine and Monterey pine grown in a sandy soil and in fallow cultures of the same soil. After 120 days, the content of chlorthal plus its degradation products (as measured by 14C‐activity) had decreased to 37% in the fallow and white pine cultures. A somewhat slower rate of degradation in soil (average 45%*C‐activity remaining) was observed for the Monterey pine cultures. Thus in 120 days, 55–63% of the added chlorthal had been lost from the soil system. A negligible amount of this could be accounted for by plant uptake. After 60 days of growth the rate of degradation in soil was greatly curtailed suggesting that the accumulated degradation produces were able to inhibit the further degradation of the herbicide.Analysis of *C‐labelled extracts from the pine tissue showed that uptake of chlorthal varied from 0–25 to 1–2% of the total amount of the chemical added to the soil. Degraded, as well as intact chlorthal, were found in both Monterey and white pine tissue. Very limited mobility of chlorthal in the plant was observed and the concentration in the shoots was less than 10 pm. About 80% of the absorbed chlorthal remained in the root systems. Plant growth led to a rapid dilution of absorbed chlorthal. The growth of both species of pine was rapid and apparently healthy in chlorthal‐treated soil and comparable to that of the control plants.