Effect of controlled release formulations of diuron and alachlor herbicides on the biochemical activity of agricultural soils

The use of pesticides in agriculture is essential because it reduces the economic losses caused by pests, improving crop yields. In spite of the growing number of studies concerning the development and application of controlled release formulations (CRFs) of pesticides in agricultural soils, there are no studies about the effects of such formulations on the biochemical properties. In this paper the dissipation of diuron and alachlor in three agricultural soils for 127 days, applied either as commercial or CRFs, was determined as well as their concomitant effects on soil biochemical properties. Dehydrogenase, urease, β-glucosidase and phosphatase activities were measured thought the experimental period. The application of alachlor as CRF increases its half-life time in soils, whereas no differences were noticed between diuron formulations due to its slower degradation, which takes longer than its release from the CRF. At the end of the incubation period, the enzymatic activities were the same after the use of diuron either as commercial or CRF, recovering the soil previous status. For alachlor formulations, no differences in enzymatic activities were again observed between both formulations, but their levels in soils were enhanced. Therefore, the use of these CRFs does not adversely affect the soil biochemical properties.