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Glyphosate sorption to soils and sediments predicted by pedotransfer functions

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Abstract

Glyphosate is the most applied herbicide for weed control in agriculture worldwide. Excessive application of glyphosate induces water pollution. The transfer of glyphosate to freshwater and groundwater is largely controlled by glyphosate sorption to soils and sediments. Sorption coefficients are therefore the most sensitive parameters in models used for risk assessment. However, the variations in glyphosate sorption among soils and sediments are poorly understood. Here we review glyphosate sorption parameters and their variation with selected soils and sediment. We use this knowledge to build pedotransfer functions that allow predicting sorption parameters, Kd, Kf and n, for a wide range of soils and sediments. We gathered glyphosate sorption parameters, 101 Kf, n and equivalent Kd, and associated soil properties. These data were then used to perform stepwise multiple regression analyses to build the pedotransfer functions. The linear (Kd) and Freundlich (Kf, n) pedotransfer functions were benchmarked against experimental data. We found the following major points: (1) Under current environmental conditions, sorption is best predicted by the Kd pedotransfer function. (2) The pedotransfer function is Kd = 7.20*CEC − 1.31*Clay + 24.82 (Kd in L kg−1, CEC in cmol kg−1 and clay in %). (3) Cation exchange capacity (CEC) and clay content are the main drivers of Kd variability across soils and sediments. Freundlich parameters are additionally influenced by pH and organic carbon. This suggests that the formation of complexes between glyphosate phosphonate groups and soil-exchanged polyvalent cations dominates sorption across the range of analyzed soils.

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Acknowledgments

This work was performed in the framework of a research and development project funded by the French Office for Water and Aquatic Bodies (ONEMA). The first author is grateful to the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) for providing her Ph.D. Grant.

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  1. INRA, UMR LISAH, 2 Place Pierre Viala, 34060, Montpellier, Cedex 1, France

    Jeanne Dollinger, Cécile Dagès & Marc Voltz

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  1. Jeanne Dollinger
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  2. Cécile Dagès
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Correspondence to Jeanne Dollinger.

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Dollinger, J., Dagès, C. & Voltz, M. Glyphosate sorption to soils and sediments predicted by pedotransfer functions. Environ Chem Lett 13, 293–307 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-015-0515-5

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