Sorption of sulfadiazine on Brazilian soils

► The sorption of sulfadiazine (SDZ) was studied in four tropical soil-water systems. ► The low values of the KF indicate that SDZ is highly mobile in the evaluated soils. ► The desorption values were higher than those obtained for adsorption of SDZ. ► A small positive hysteresis was observed with all soils under study. ► The main mechanism of the sorption of SDZ is partitioning to organic matter.