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Biodegradation of Fenitrothion in Soil
Author(s) -
Roy Shalini,
Kumar Reena,
Roy Sharmila,
Sharma C. B.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
biomedical chromatography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.4
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1099-0801
pISSN - 0269-3879
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-0801(199603)10:2<60::aid-bmc559>3.0.co;2-t
Subject(s) - fenitrothion , chemistry , biodegradation , chromatography , environmental chemistry , pesticide , organic chemistry , ecology , biology
The biodegradation of fenitrothion (an organophosphorus pesticide) in garden soil of western Uttar Pradesh in northern India has been studied. Both natural and autoclaved soil were treated with 10 p.p.m. of fenitrothion at field capacity moisture and incubated for 90 days in glass containers at 25 and 40°C. The soil samples were collected at various intervals between 0 and 90 days and analysed by HPLC for the residual pesticide and metabolites formed. At 0 days the recovery of the pesticide was 98% and the pesticide then degraded linearly with incubation time. The concentration of pesticide in the natural soil decreased with incubation time with concomitant formation of two metabolites at 25°C and three metabolites at 40°C. These metabolites were purified to homogeneity by HPLC and characterized by IR spectroscopy. The results showed oxidative desulphuration of the pesticide at the first step followed by hydrolytic cleavage of P ‐ O ‐aryl linkage and demethylation at the second and third step, respectively.