Mechanical Behaviour of Atrazine-Contaminated Clay

Atrazine (ATZ) is one of the most heavily used types of herbicide that is currently applied in the agricultural industry all around the world, especially Australia and the United States. This study investigates the effect of atrazine contamination on the mechanical characteristics of two Western Australian natural clays and one commercial type of clay. A series of the Atterberg limit, compaction, and torsional ring shear tests were performed on the clays contaminated with 2, 4, and 6% atrazine content. The results showed that increasing the atrazine content led to a reduction in both liquid limit (LL) and plastic (PL) of the tested soils. Similarly, the optimum moisture content (OMC) and maximum dry density (MDD) decreased by increasing the atrazine in all tested clays. The ring shear results showed that the peak shear strength and residual stress ratio of the clays decreased by increasing the contamination. Also, the results showed that atrazine contamination caused an increase in cohesion and a decrease in the friction angle of the tested soils. Also, longer periods of contamination caused a reduction in strength characteristics of the tested soils.

MACRO simulator (version 5.0) for predicting atrazine herbicide behavior in brazilian latosols

The knowledge of pesticides behavior is fundamental for understanding the environmental impact caused by these products. However, related field experiments are time consuming and expensive. The MACRO® simulator allows to predicting the leaching of pesticides through the soil profile and the possible environmental contamination. The objective of this work was to study the percolate behavior and the atrazine leaching in two contrasting Latosols using the MACRO® simulator. The MACRO® simulator was adequate to predict atrazine behavior under the studied conditions and it can be used for the risk evaluation of atrazine contamination in surface and underground waters.