Leaching indices of some major triazine metabolites

Pesticide metabolites which maintain the phytotoxic activity of the parent compounds or some kind of biological activity may represent a risk to human health if present in drinking water above certain concentrations. Using laboratory methods, the soil persistence (DT50) and mobility (Koc) of desethylatrazine, deisopropylatrazine, desethylterbuthylazine, 3-(4-hydroxycyclohexyl)-6-(methylamino)-1-methyl-1,3,5-atrazine-2,4-(1H,3H)-dione and of their parent compounds atrazine, terbutylazine, hexazinone were determined. Then, their tendency to leach (GUS indices) were calculated. Respect to their parent compounds, the examined metabolites generally have higher DT50 and lower Koc values. Consequently, they show leaching characteristics higher than their parent compounds.