Abiotic partitioning of clothianidin under simulated rice field conditions

Clothianidin is registered for pre- and post-flood application in Californian rice fields for control of the rice seed midge, Cricotopus sylvestris, and the rice water weevil, Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus. The objective was to characterize air-water and soil-water partitioning of clothianidin under simulated Californian rice field conditions.

Clothianidin was confirmed to be non-volatile (from water) via the gas purge method, as no loss from the aqueous phase was observed at 22 and 37 °C; an upper-limit KH value was calculated at 2.9 × 10(-11) Pa m(3) mol(-1) (20 °C). Soil-water partitioning was determined by the batch equilibrium method using four soils collected from rice fields in the Sacramento Valley, and sorption affinity (Kd ), sorbent capacity, desorption and organic-carbon-normalized distribution (Koc ) were determined. Values for pH, cation exchange capacity and organic matter content ranged from 4.5 to 6.6, from 5.9 to 37.9 and from 1.25 to 1.97% respectively. The log Koc values (22 and 37 °C) ranged from 2.6 to 2.7, while sorption capacity was low at 22 °C and decreased further at 37 °C. Hysteresis was observed in soils at both temperatures, suggesting that bound residues do not readily desorb.

Soil-water and air-water partitioning will not significantly reduce offsite transport of clothianidin from flooded rice fields via drainage.