Persistence of carbaryl in flooded soils and its degradation by soil enrichment cultures

Abstract

The rate of degradation of carbaryl after one, two and three applications to three submerged soils was examined. Soils which had been pretreated with carbaryl were able to degrade the compound more rapidly than those without pretreatment. A dilution as low as 10^-8 of the enrichment culture from Sukinda soil effected the degradation of carbaryl. The enrichment culture was inactivated upon autoclaving. The concentration of carbaryl decreased in the mineral medium inoculated with the enrichment cultures from the three soils, especially when it served as the sole source of both carbon and nitrogen. More important was that the enrichment cultures from carbofuran- and carbaryl-amended soils also showed the ability to degrade carbaryl and carbofuran, respectively.