ABSTRACT
Release of dimethoate to the environment will result from its production and use as a contact and systemic insecticide. Exposure to dimethoate will result mainly from occupational contact during its production and use as a contact and systemic insecticide. If dimethoate is released to the soil, it should not adsorb to the soil and may be subject to considerable leaching based upon measured Koc values. The observed decreases in concn may be mainly the result of abiotic hydrolysis, and biodegradation may play a minor role in the disappearance of dimethoate in the river water; apparently no experiments were conducted with sterilized river water. In moist soils, dimethoate is readily oxidized to dimethoxon, but the role of microbial degradation on the removal of dimethoate from the environment is uncertain. Dimethoate was detected in ten of ten tailwater pits serving cornfields in Kansas tested for its presence during 1974 at an average concn of 1.9 ppb.
