Abstract
The persistence of atrazine residues in soils may have an effect on the contamination of the ground water or surface water. Besides the active ingredients, pesticide formulations contain many other compounds called adjuvants. One of them is the Atpolan 80 EC which belongs to the group of oil mineral adjuvants used as tank-mix. The utilization of a fraction of paraffin oil 1113 is one of the examples of utilising waste as the component of Atpolan 80 EC in agriculture. When the Atpolan concentration comprised 1.25% (v/v), the atrazine degradation rate decreased in the sandy loam and muck soil. The half-life of atrazine increased over a period of 40 or 57 days, depending on the type of the soil. The least significant effect was caused by Atpolan concentration at 0.25 and 0.75%. This result points at the capability of limiting atrazine run-off and leaching down the soil profile. Each ingredient of the pesticide, besides having the overall ability to distribute between different phases, also demonstrates some single compound behaviour. This paper shows our current understanding of the factors that influence the adjuvant performance and their potentially complex interactions with the pesticide.