Organochlorine Insecticide-Dicofol Resilience in Soil Ecosystems: Sorption, Persistence, and Fate Investigations

ABSTRACT

Understanding of dicofol’s behavior in soil is crucial for more precise pest control and minimal environmental effect. Therefore, the goal of this study was to assess how the physicochemical characteristics of 10 selected soils effects the sorption and degradation of dicofol behavior. The behavior of dicofol, including its adsorption and desorption properties as well as its rates of hydrolysis and photolysis degradation, was thoroughly examined via definitive studies. Standard batch equilibration mode for sorption revealed that it was dependent on the physical and chemical properties of the soil. Exothermic and spontaneous adsorption processes, which were characterized by a negative Gibbs free energy value, were convincingly proven by thermodynamic study. The current investigation’s ΔG estimations varied from −18.6 kjmol⁻¹ for soil-6 to −24.25 kjmol⁻¹ for soil-9. The soil-7 with a notable organic matter content (1.81%) showed the maximum adsorption, and subsequently producing a C-type isotherm that was analyzed using a linear and Freundlich model. An analytical process using UV-VIS spectrophotometry to determine the fate of dicofol in soil matrices. Hydrolysis and photolysis studies yielded minimum half-lives of 13.4 and 1.32 days, respectively. It has been demonstrated that dicofol molecules interact strongly with soils, principally via physio-sorption mechanisms. In contrast to its strong soil affinity and permanence, dicofol exhibits a counterintuitive behavior that makes it vulnerable to sunlight-induced deterioration. Future studies will concentrate on enhancing these pathways to assist sustainable pesticide management strategies and creative pollution mitigation techniques.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Hydrolysis
• photolysis
• physio sorption
• Freundlich

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the Department of Environmental Science (Lab E-21), Fatima Jinnah Women University, Pakistan. This work was funded by the Researchers Supporting Project Number (RSPD2023R764), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors contribution

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by [Sara Majid], [Khuram Shahzad Ahmad] and [Muhammad Azad Malik] while [Abdulnasser M. Karami] provided guidelines and facilitated in sample analysis. The first draft of the manuscript was written by [Sara Majid] and all authors commented on the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”

Data availability statement

Data will be available on demand.

Ethical approval

The current work does not involve experimentation on any human or animals.

Statement and declaration

All authors have read, understood, and have complied as applicable with the statement on “Ethical responsibilities of Authors” as found in the Instructions for Authors and are aware that with minor exceptions, no changes can be made to authorship once the paper is submitted.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15320383.2024.2319866.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the Researchers Supporting Project Number (RSPD2023R764), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.