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Effects of Low Concentrations of Herbicides on Submersed Aquatic Plants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

D. Raymond Forney  and
Donald E. Davis
D. Raymond Forney
Affiliation:
Dep. Plant Path. And Physiol., VPI and SU, Blacksburg, VA 24060
Donald E. Davis
Affiliation:
Dep. Bot., Plant Path., and Microbiol., Auburn Univ., Auburn, AL 36849
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Abstract

Laboratory studies were conducted to investigate the possibility that herbicide runoff from treated fields might be adversely affecting submersed aquatic plants in the Chesapeake Bay. In laboratory studies, I1 and I50 values (the concentrations inhibiting growth 1 and 50%, respectively) were calculated for three herbicides and several aquatic plants. Exposure periods varied from 3 to 6 weeks, with the 3-week exposure being most common. For atrazine [2-chloro-4-(ethylamino)-6-(isopropylamino)-s-triazine], I1 values were usually a few parts per billion (ppb), whereas I50 values varied from ca. 80 ppb for elodea (Elodea canadensis Michx) to ca. 1040 ppb for Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum L.). The toxicity of metribuzin [4-amino-6-tert-butyl-3-(methylthio)-as-triazin-5(4H)-one] was similar to that of atrazine. Glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine] was essentially non-toxic. Interactions between salinity and atrazine were studied using the brackish water species, vallisneria (Vallisneria americana Michx.). Increasing salinity did not affect atrazine toxicity. When atrazine was present in both the hydrosoil and water, the concentration in the water determined the toxicity. At concentrations below 1000 ppb, atrazine in the hydrosoil did not adversely affect the plants. Based on the results of these studies, and the known concentrations of herbicides in runoff water, these herbicides do not appear to pose any threat to the species tested.

Keywords

Water pollutionherbicide runofftoxicityatrazinemetribuzinglyphosate
Type
Research Article
Information
Weed Science , Volume 29 , Issue 6 , November 1981 , pp. 677 - 685
Copyright
Copyright © 1981 by the Weed Science Society of America 

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