| Abstract: | Fonofos (O-ethyl S-phenyl ethylphosphonodithioate) was applied to an organic soil as band treatment at the rates of 1.12 and 2.24 kg/ha. The persistence of the insecticide and its translocation into onions and two rotation crops (lettuces and carrots) was studied under field conditions. Proportionally more residues persisted in the soil from the higher rate of application. In autumn, 4 months after soil treatment, about 40-48 % of the initially recovered levels of fonofos remained in soil. However, the amount of fonofos present at the harvest time, during the second growing season was only 16–26% of the insecticide concentration found in spring. Onions harvested 4 months after application of fonofos had no detectable residue (> 0.005 mg/kg) whereas lettuces and carrots grown in the following year contained fonofos in various amounts. At the lower rate of application the insecticide residues in lettuces and carrots were < 0.005 and 0.025 mg/kg, respectively, and those from the higher application rate were 0.012 and 0.036 mg/kg. About 72–80% of the residue could be removed by peeling the carrots. No residue of the oxygen analogue, O-ethyl S-phenyl ethylphos-phonothioate (I) was detected in any soil or crop samples. |
