An Investigation of Some of the Environmental and Edaphic Factors Effecting the Detoxification and Subsequent Degradation of an Herbicide, Butachlor

The influence of specific edaphic environmental factors on the detoxication and subsequent degradation of N-Butoxymethyl-2-chloro-2', 6' diethylacetanilide (butachlor) was evaluated under greenhouse and growth chamber conditions. Detoxication of butachlor, as measured by bioassay with barnyardgrass, was significantly enhanced by increasing temperatures to 32 C, making the soil alkaline, flooding, introducing relatively high levels of organic matter and by allowing exposure of more than four weeks. Total degradation of butachlor to C0₂ was enhanced also by high temperatures and length of exposure but was inhibited to a certain extent by flooding. Soil produced metabolites, of which three were soluble in certain organic solvents and five were water soluble, were also influenced by environmental factors, temperature and length of exposure being most significant. Flooding influenced the formation of certain metabolites soluble in organic solvent but did not influence the presence or amounts of water soluble metabolites.