Accelerated degradation of N, N'-dibutylurea (DBU) upon repeated application

In a recent study on the degradation of N,N'-dibutylurea (DBU), a breakdown product of benomyl [methyl 1-(butylcarbamoyl)-2-benzimidazole carbamate], the active ingredient in Benlate fungicides, degradation half-lives of 1.4-46.5 days were observed across several soils incubated at various combinations of soil moisture potential (-0.03 and -0.1 MPa) and temperature (23, 33, and 44 degrees C) for a single DBU application of 0.08 and 0.8 microg g(-1) (Lee et al. 2004). However, Benlate can be applied as often as every 7 days resulting in the repeated application of DBU likely to be present in the Benlate over a growing season. In this study, the effect of seven repeated DBU applications on mineralization rate was investigated in two soils, which encompass the range in rates previously observed. For the slower degrading soil, repeated DBU application increased mineralization from 0.029 to 0.99 day(-1) at the 0.08 microg g(-1) rate, and 0.037 to 0.89 day(-1) at the 0.8 microg g(-1) rate. For the faster degrading soil, effects on mineralization of repeated DBU applications were small to negligible. For the latter soil, the effect on mineralization of applied DBU concentrations from 0.0008 to 80 microg g(-1) was also investigated. Mineralization rates decreased from 0.43 to 0.019 day(-1) with increasing DBU concentrations. However, the amount of DBU mineralized by day 70 was similar across concentrations and averaged 83% of applied. Microbial respiration was not affected by increasing DBU concentrations. These findings support the supposition that DBU is readily degraded by soil microorganisms, thus unlikely to accumulate in agricultural soils.