Kinetics of selected herbicides and their biodegradation in soil and water environments

The three most commonly used herbicides in the Czech Republic (chloracetanilides, triazines and glyphosate) are also the herbicidal compounds found in the highest concentration in surface water. After agricultural application, they interact with soil and water due to their chemical properties and environmental factors affecting them. Adsorption coefficient, solubility in water environment, precipitation and drift have high impacts on the kinetics of these herbicides and degradates emerging from them. While moving through soil, parent compounds of mentioned herbicides are actively biodegraded by microorganisms, the most effective decomposers in nature. Biodegradation in soil and water environments is accelerated or slowed by temperature, moisture, quantity of microbial communities and many other environmental factors. Even if the microbial degradation is effective in a water or soil environment, there are many other new, arising compounds whose persistence in the environment is significantly higher than that of the parent compound. Degradates can end up in surface water by run off or wash out from agricultural fields and can remain there for decades depending on their chemical properties and natural conditions. Key words: surface water, herbicides, herbicides degradation products, rainfall-runoff..