Influence of soil properties on ethofumesate mobility

Abstract

Abstract We studied the mobility of ethofumesate (2‐ethoxy‐2,3‐dihydro‐3,3‐dimethylbenzofuran‐5‐yl methanesulphonate) in 23 soil samples by using soil thin layer chromatography (soil TLC) and soil‐packed columns. Eighteen of the samples assayed were from agricultural soils of the Marismas del Guadalquivir (a marshy region at the mouth of River Guadalquivir, SW Spain) and the other five were from natural, uncultured soils with organic matter contents above 3%. The Rf values obtained by soil TLC ranged between 0.13 and 0.75 (R1 = 0.43). There was a scarcely significant (p < 0.10) negative correlation between Rf and the organic matter content of the soils, organic matter + clay content (p < 0.10) and silt + clay content (p < 0.05). If only the Marismas soils are considered, then the significance of the previous correlations is higher, except for that between Rf and the organic matter content; also, Rf is further significantly correlated with the clay content (p<0.01) and the smectite content (p<0.05). The he...