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Use of the insecticide lambda-cyhalothrin in agriculture may result in the contamination of water bodies, for example by spray drift. Therefore, the possible exposure of aquatic organisms to this insecticide needs to be evaluated. The exposure of the organisms may be reduced by the strong sorption of the insecticide to organic materials and its susceptibility to hydrolysis at the high pH values in the natural range. In experiments done in May and August, formulated lambda-cyhalothrin was mixed with the water body of enclosures in experimental ditches containing a bottom layer and macrophytes (at different densities) or phytoplankton. Concentrations of lambda-cyhalothrin in the water body and in the sediment layer, and contents in the plant compartment, were measured by gas-liquid chromatography at various times up to 1 week after application. Various water quality parameters were also measured. Concentrations of lambda-cyhalothrin decreased rapidly in the water column: 1 day after application, 24-40% of the dose remained in the water, and by 3 days it had declined to 1.8-6.5%. At the highest plant density, lambda-cyhalothrin residue in the plant compartment reached a maximum of 50% of the dose after 1 day; at intermediate and low plant densities, this maximum was only 3-11% of the dose (after 1-2 days). The percentage of the insecticide in the ditch sediment was 12% or less of the dose and tended to be lower at higher plant densities. Alkaline hydrolysis in the water near the surface of macrophytes and phytoplankton is considered to be the main dissipation process for lambda-cyhalothrin.

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Data were collected that are needed to simulate soil fumigation with metham‐sodium with computation models. The rate of conversion of metham‐sodium into methyl isothiocyanate was dependent on temperature and soil type, and conversion was usually completed within a few hours. In comparison with dichloropropene, there was a higher water/gas distribution ratio and thus a slower vapour diffusion. Adsorption from the water phase onto the solid phase was weaker. The first‐order rate equation described the decomposition of methyl isothiocyanate and the half‐lives varied from a few days to a few weeks according to temperature and soil type.

The sorption of nine pesticides to the aquatic macrophytes Chara globularis, Elodea nuttallii, and Lemna gibba was studied. A batch equilibrium method was used to study the sorption at five concentration levels to fresh shoots of the macrophytes. The results for the herbicides atrazine and linuron were described by nonlinear Freundlich equations, with Freundlich exponents ranging from 0.53 to 0.60. The results for the other compounds showed almost linear sorption isotherms, with Freundlich exponents ranging from 0.9 to 1.1. The highest sorption was measured for chlorpyrifos, with sorption coefficients ranging from 1,660 to 2,150 L/kg. Sorption coefficients for C. globularis tended to be lower than those for the other two macrophytes. Correlation (R(2) = 0.80) was found for the relation between the sorption coefficient (K(d)) of six pesticides and their solubility in water (S). The equation log K(d) = 3.20 - 0.65 log S can be used for a first estimate of the sorption coefficient of a pesticide to aquatic macrophytes.http://link.springer-ny.com/link/service/journals/00244/bibs/37n3p310.html

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The volatilization of pesticides from crop canopies in the field should be modeled within the context of evaluating environmental exposure. A model concept based on diffusion through a laminar air-boundary layer was incorporated into the PEARL model (pesticide emission assessment at regional and local scales) and used to simulate volatilization of the pesticides parathion and chlorothalonil from a potato crop in a field experiment. Rate coefficients for the competing processes of plant penetration, wash off, and phototransformation in the canopy had to be derived from a diversity of literature data. Cumulative volatilization of the moderately volatile parathion (31% of the dosage in 7.6 days) could be simulated after calibrating two input data derived for the related compound parathion-methyl. The less volatile and more slowly transformed chlorothalonil showed 5% volatilization in 7.6 days, which could be explained by the simulation. Simulated behavior of the pesticides in the crop canopy roughly corresponded to published data.