Accelerating effect of some photosensitizers on photodegradation of the herbicide quinclorac in aqueous solution and soil

In order to artificially reduce the quinclorac residue in aqueous solution and soil, six potential photosensitizers were screened for their effectiveness in enhancing the photodegradation. The degraded amount of quinclorac in distilled water by sunlight was minor compared to that in the dark, indicating that there was little direct photolysis. The photodegradation ratio of quinclorac in methanol was 40.3%. Whereas, the ratios in the presence of photosensitizers PS-1 (aromatic ketone), PS-3 (polycyclic quinone), and PS-6 (inorganic semiconductor) were 96.6, 72.7, and 95.7%, respectively, showing the most photosensitizing effects. In sand, PS-3 was more effective than any other photosensitizer PS-1 (19.6%), PS-3 (64.1%) and PS-6 (). five photoproducts of quinclorac in methanol were identified by GC-MS and quinclorac added with the photosensitizer PS-1 gave three photoproducts. Photoproducts with an aldehyde group formed in methanol were confirmed by the reduction of sodium 3,5-dinitrosalicylate in the Lindsay's method. E. crus-galli war. oryzicola was not controlled by the quinclorac residues photodegraded at tile concentrations higher than 30 ppm of the photosensitizer PS-3 in a flooded rice paddy soil. These results indicate that the quinclorac residues in aqueous solution and soil can be degraded efficiently by tile photosensitizers PS-1, PS-3, and PS-6.