Environmental fate of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid in surface waters and soil of agricultural basins

• Published in: Chemosphere (Oxford) 2013-11, Vol.93 (9), p.1866-1873
• Main Authors: Aparicio, Virginia C., De Gerónimo, Eduardo, Marino, Damián, Primost, Jezabel, Carriquiriborde, Pedro, Costa, José L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: agricultural soils; Agriculture; AMPA; Applied sciences; Argentina; Basins; Continental surface waters; corn; Cotton; Crops; environmental fate; Environmental Monitoring; Exact sciences and technology; Glycine - analogs & derivatives; Glycine - analysis; Glyphosate; Herbicides - analysis; Isoxazoles; Natural water pollution; no-tillage; Organophosphonates - analysis; particulates; Pesticide Residues - analysis; Pollution; Sediment; Sediments; Soil; Soil (material); Soil - chemistry; Soil and sediments pollution; Soil Pollutants - analysis; soybeans; Streams; Surface water; Tetrazoles; Transgenic; transgenic plants; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water treatment and pollution; Zea mays
• ISSN: 0045-6535; 1879-1298
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2013.06.041

•We measured glyphosate and AMPA concentrations in soil, surface water and sediment.•Glyphosate and AMPA are present in soils under agricultural activity.•Glyphosate is more frequent in particulate matter and sediment than in water.•The surface run-off cause the movement of soil particles with glyphosate adsorbed.•Glyphosate is accumulated in the bottom sediment and is biodegraded to AMPA. Argentinian agricultural production is fundamentally based on a technological package that combines no-till and glyphosate in the cultivation of transgenic crops. Transgenic crops (soybean, maize and cotton) occupy 23million hectares. This means that glyphosate is the most employed herbicide in the country, where 180–200million liters are applied every year. The aim of this work is to study the environmental fate of glyphosate and its major degradation product, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), in surface water and soil of agricultural basins. Sixteen agricultural sites and forty-four streams in the agricultural basins were sampled three times during 2012. The samples were analyzed by UPLC-MS/MS ESI(+/−). In cultivated soils, glyphosate was detected in concentrations between 35 and 1502μgkg−1, while AMPA concentration ranged from 299 to 2256μgkg−1. In the surface water studied, the presence of glyphosate and AMPA was detected in about 15% and 12% of the samples analyzed, respectively. In suspended particulate matter, glyphosate was found in 67% while AMPA was present in 20% of the samples. In streams sediment glyphosate and AMPA were also detected in 66% and 88.5% of the samples respectively. This study is, to our knowledge, the first dealing with glyphosate fate in agricultural soils in Argentina. In the present study, it was demonstrated that glyphosate and AMPA are present in soils under agricultural activity. It was also found that in stream samples the presence of glyphosate and AMPA is relatively more frequent in suspended particulate matter and sediment than in water.