Imazaquin herbicide is an organic molecule presenting ionizable functional groups, with its sorption depending on soil pH and electrical charges. In this research, sorption of imazaquin was evaluated on an Anionic Acrudox at different soil depths and pH values. Radiolabelled (14C) molecules were employed to study imazaquin sorption, which was estimated by the difference between applied concentration and that remaining in solution. The sorption data were fitted to Freundlich equation to determine the sorption coefficient values (Kf), which were, overall, low in the studied soil. At both soil depths, sorption decreased as pH increased. However, at a similar pH value, sorption was higher on the subsurface than on the surface sample, probably due to the positive charges resulting from the low organic matter and high Al and Fe oxide contents. When the soil surface charges were positive it was not possible to predict imazaquin sorption only from molecule speciation and its hydrophobic partition into soil organic fractions.
herbicide; imazaquin; pH; sorption; acric