Environmentally friendly formulations of alachlor and atrazine: Preparation, characterization, and reduced leaching

Trinidad Sánchez-Verdejo, Tomás Undabeytia*, Shlomo Nir, Jaime Villaverde, Celia Maqueda, Esmeralda Morillo

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

Atrazine and alachlor formulations were designed by encapsulating the herbicide molecules into phosphatidylcholine (PC) vesicles, which subsequently were adsorbed on montmorillonite. PC and montmorillonite are classified as substances of minimal toxicological risk by the U.S. EPA. PC enhanced alachlor and atrazine solubilities by 15- and 18-fold, respectively. A 6 mM PC:5 g/L clay ratio was found as optimal for PC adsorption on the clay. Active ingredient contents of the PC-clay formulations ranged up to 8.6% for atrazine and 39.5% for alachlor. Infrared spectroscopy showed hydrophobic interactions of herbicide molecules with the alkyl chains of PC, in addition to hydrophilic interactions with the PC headgroup. Release experiments in a sandy soil showed a slower rate from the PC-clay formulations than the commercial ones. Soil column experiments under moderate irrigation and bioactivity experiments indicate that a reduction in the recommended dose of alachlor and atrazine can be accomplished by using PC-clay formulations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)10192-10199
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Volume56
Issue number21
DOIs
StatePublished - 12 Nov 2008

Keywords

  • Bioactivity
  • Herbicides
  • Leaching
  • Liposomes
  • Slow release formulations

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