Tebuconazole Sorption in Contrasting Soil Types

This study investigates the sorption of tebuconazole in contrasting soil types (Rendzic Leptosol, Haplic Arenosol, and Haplic Cambisol). Tebuconazole was used both as an analytical-grade chemical and as a commercial product. Sorption experiments were performed using the batch equilibrium approach. The sorption of analytical-grade tebuconazole in soils was lower compared to the commercial product, with the exception of the Cambisol. The highest sorption was observed for the Cambisol regardless of the tebuconazole form. In the experiment with the commercial formula containing tebuconazole, a higher sorption was observed for the Leptosol compared to the Arenosol; the experiment with analytical-grade tebuconazole showed an opposite trend. The differences in sorption of the commercially available and analytical-grade tebuconazole can be attributed to the additives present in the commercial product. Based on the obtained results, tebuconazole sorption is mainly influenced by soil organic matter and the mineralogical composition, but fungicide composition plays an important role as well. Additives present in the commercial products support fungicide sorption in soils. These findings confirm that tebuconazole is adsorbed in soils with high contents of organic matter and clay minerals and its application to such soils should not lead to risks associated with fungicide leaching.