Pyraclostrobin Wash-off from Sugarcane Leaves and Aerobic Dissipation in Agricultural Soil

Abstract

To mitigate damage from the fungal sugarcane pathogen brown rust (Puccinia melanocephala), a Section 18 Emergency Use Label was put in place by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) for the application of pyraclostrobin (trade name Headline SC, produced by BASF, Research Triangle Park, NC) on sugarcane in 2008. To assess the dynamics of this fungicide in Louisiana soil, samples (n = 24) from a non-treated field were spiked with pyraclostrobin (3.1 μg g(-1)) and analyzed in laboratory conditions over the course of 63 days using quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) dispersive solid-phase extraction/high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet-visible detection (dSPE/HPLC-UV). Modeling was performed using Microsoft Excel to predict DTx values. Pyraclostrobin was found to follow biphasic kinetics with DT50 and DT90 values of 60 and 282 days, suggesting that it is moderately persistent to persistent in soils. Wash-off studies on sugarcane indicate that very little fungicide is in the wash-off after 48 h. If applied to sugarcane according to label recommendations, the fungicide should have minimal dissipation from rainfall events.