ABSTRACT
In order to assess the behavior and fate of pesticides in terrestrial ecosystems, in addition to field experiments under natural conditions, laboratory test procedures under controlled conditions are indispensable. Individual processes involved in the dynamics of residue behavior in soil have to be identified and simulated in the laboratory, in order to quantify the role they play within the complex residue disappearance process under field conditions. Mobility in soil and leaching from soil, volatility from soil and plants, uptake into plants, metabolization and formation of bound residues, and mineralization are main processes governing the fate of pesticides in the soil-plant system. Volatilization of pesticides from soil and plant surfaces is important for two reasons. First, volatilization contributes considerably to residue decline in soil and, therefore, is often misinterpreted as degradation. Second, pesticides volatilized into the air may be transported on an over-regional scale and thus contribute to ubiquitous environmental contamination.
