Investigations into the capabilities of switchgrass to phytoremediate atrazine contamination in surface water runoff

Extensive use of the agricultural herbicide atrazine has led to contamination of numerous ground and surface water bodies. Research has shown that it can have a variety of negative impacts on numerous non-target organisms in the environment. Phytoremediation is one strategy that has been studied to remove atrazine contamination. This paper investigates the hypothesis that switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) can exude metabolites of atrazine after uptake and degradation, which has been suggested by prior research. Pots planted with switchgrass were treated with a 4 ppm solution of atrazine spiked with [C]atrazine. After 4 days, switchgrass plants were transplanted to new pots with fresh sand. Four days later, the pots were sacrificed, and sand and plant samples were extracted. Plant and sand samples were analyzed for the presence of atrazine and its major metabolites. The percentage of atrazine present was observed to decrease over the course of the study while the metabolites were observed to increase. The presence of the metabolite cyanuric acid in a phytoremediation system is reported for the first time. INTRODUCTION The triazine herbicide atrazine has been one of the most widely used herbicides in the agricultural industry for control broadleaf weeds, mainly in corn, sorghum, and sugarcane