Influence of methanol and hexane on soil adsorption of atrazine

Abstract

The increasing frequency of chemically contaminated groundwater, occurring as a result of improperly managed waste disposal or accidental spills, presents a need for research on the fate of chemical mixtures in the soil. The batch equilibration technique was used to measure adsorption of 14C ring-labeled atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine) for a Palouse silt loam (Pachic Ultic Haploxeroll) and a Pembroke silty clay loam (Typic Paleudalf). The solution phase consisted of mixtures of methanol-water and hexane-water containing up to 33.3 % organic solvent by volume. Aqueous solubility limited atrazine concentrations to 100 μmol L−1 except for an additional isotherm determined in 33.3 methanol-water at up to 1542 μmol L−1 The Freundlich adsorption coefficient indicated that the Palouse adsorbed more atrazine than the Pembroke with K values of 4.95 and 0.54, respectively. Both soils showed a significant decrease in K as the percentage methanol increased. Adsorption isotherms from a 33. 3 methanol-water system were of the Freundlich type for atrazine concentrations of 0.25 to 1542 μmol L−1. In the hexane-water systems, K decreased as the fraction of hexane increased and the Pembroke soil adsorbed less atrazine than the Palouse soil. These results suggest that the introduction of nonaqueous solvents such as methanol and hexane decreased adsorption and increased the potential for atrazine mobility.