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The fate of cyromazine applied via the nutrient solution (20, 40, and 60 mg of active ingredient per plant) in a closed-cycle soilless cultivation of bean with zero discharge of effluents was traced in both the recycled drainage solution and the plant tissues for 99 days. The insecticide was applied once, 15 days after planting (16 days prior to the first harvest). In addition to cyromazine, the residues of melamine, its metabolite, in the drainage solution and plant tissues were also regularly determined during the 99 days. The two higher application doses induced toxicity symptoms on the leaves of the bean plant. The maximum cyromazine levels were measured 8 days after application in the drainage solution (17-46 mg l(-1)), 16 days in the roots (1.1-2.4 mg kg(-1) fresh weight [f. wt.]) and the vegetative shoot (4.5-9.5 mg kg(-1) f. wt.), and 24 days after application in the pods (2.6-4.1 mg kg(-1) f. wt.). However, the cyromazine residues in pods were clearly below the maximum acceptable levels for bean. The half-life of cyromazine in the drainage solution ranged from 16 to 19 days for the three doses. The melamine residues in the drainage solution and in the roots reached a concentration peak 16 days after cyromazine application, whereas in the vegetative shoot and the pods they were constantly increasing over the 99 days after application. Nevertheless, the melamine residues were constantly much lower than those of cyromazine, although on the last sampling day (99) they tended toward convergence. Cyromazine proved to be highly persistent, as indicated by the remarkably high residues measured in both the drainage solution and the plant tissues, even 99 days after application. Nevertheless, the application of cyromazine via the nutrient solution to beans grown in closed-cycle hydroponic systems at doses not exceeding 20 mg per plant seems to be safe with respect to both phytotoxicity and residue levels in the edible pods.

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The loss of metalaxyl, a systemic fungicide, was determined in runoff water from loamy soil plots of various surface slopes cultivated with tobacco, over a period of 170 days. Conditions were selected to simulate agricultural practices employed in the Mediterranean region. The surface slopes of plots were 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10% and both cultivated and uncultivated (control) areas were simultaneously monitored. The cumulative losses of metalaxyl in surface runoff from tilled and untilled plots with a slope of 10% were estimated at 0.469% and 0.740% of the initial applied active ingredient respectively, while for the plots with a slope 0% they were 0.033% and 0.044%. The dissipation in topsoil was studied for a period of 110 days. The half-lives that were calculated using first-order kinetics ranged from 13.7 to 16.6 days in tobacco soil and from 13.8 to 17 days in non-cropped soil. The dissipation of metalaxyl from the topsoil in cultivation of tobacco was higher in comparison with the untilled plots (46-62% and 52-69% respectively, of the applied dose in 23 days after the second application). The slope of soil surface, the compound solubility and sorption capacities are the main parameters that influenced the transport of metalaxyl residues via surface water in soil-water systems.