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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 44(10)

Diazinon and diflubenzuron residues in soil following surface disposal of spent sheep dip wash

G. W. Levot A D , R. D. Lund B and R. Black C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A NSW Agriculture, Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute, PMB 8, Camden, NSW 2570, Australia.

B NSW Agriculture, Agricultural Research Centre, PMB 19, Trangie, NSW 2823, Australia.

C NSW Agriculture, Wollongbar Agricultural Institute, PMB, Wollongbar, NSW 2477, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: garry.levot@agric.nsw.gov.au

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 44(10) 975-982 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA03085
Submitted: 26 April 2003  Accepted: 20 January 2004   Published: 25 November 2004

Abstract

Spent sheep dip wash (4000 L) containing 70 mg diazinon/L and sludge containing 320 mg diazinon/L were disposed onto a 450 m2 site designated for this purpose. After 14 days soil residues were less than 1 mg/kg. Diflubenzuron residues on a similar site following disposal of 5200 L of spent dip wash containing 370 mg/L remained at about 40 mg/kg for a month after disposal and were still about 6 mg/kg 12 months later. Results indicated that the half-lives in soil of diazinon and diflubenzuron from spent dip wash were about 9 and 117 days, respectively. We recommend disposing spent sheep dips on to bunded areas of flat, vegetated land isolated from sensitive areas such as watercourses and from which animals can be excluded. Area quarantine for up to 3 months might be adequate for diazinon-based products but we recommend excluding animals permanently from sites used for the disposal of diflubenzuron-based dips. Alternatively, more sophisticated methods of bioremediation of dip disposal sites may be preferred.


Acknowledgments

We thank Mr Phillip King and the NSW Livestock Contractors’ Association for their co-operation with this work and Mr Robert Lee, ‘Coorah’, Cumnock for allowing us to conduct part of this work on his property. We acknowledge the interest of the NSW Environment Protection Agency in this project. We thank Schering-Plough Animal Health for the gift of 20 L of Coopers Strike, Novartis Animal Health for the gift of 20 L of Topclip Blue Shield, Dr Lukas van Zwieten for comments on the manuscript, Dr Idris Barchia for statistical analyses and Mr Michael Karkkainen for the residue analyses.


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