Butralin Explained

Butralin is a preemergent herbicide used to control suckers on tobacco in the United States,[1] [2] Australia, Mozambique and, for food crops also, China. It is a dinitroaniline, first registered in the US in 1976.[3] It was used in the EU until a ban in 2009 due to its exotoxicity.[4] [5]

Mode of action and effects

Butralin works by the HRAC mode of action Group D / K1 / 3, (Australian, Global, Numeric respectively), which involves inhibition of microtubule formation, by binding to tubulin, halting growth, and causing depolymerization.

In ryegrass meristems, butralin-treated roots show reduced elongation, but greater diameter. The cells' rate of mitosis lowers 36% after one hour, and they develop multiple nuclei. Butralin's effect is more similar to carbamate herbicides such as chlorpropham rather than other dinitroanilines.[6]

Usage

Butralin is sold in Mozambique as "Tobralin 36% EC", made in South Africa. Users are instructed to pour 10 mL on each tobacco plant by hand, and not to unclog nozzles with their mouths.[7] [8]

In China, over 100 tons per year are used, as of 2022, on garlic, soybean, tomato, rice, peanut, pepper, cotton, eggplant, and watermelon. The maximum residue limit is 0.02 to 0.1 mg/kg. The growing Chinese market sells it in 36% or 48% emulsifiable concentrates, and in development as of 2012, a 41% wettable powder. The powder claims to be environmentally friendly, as it lacks the volatile organic molecules such as toluene and xylene used as solvent in EC formulations.[9] The powder is recommended to be applied at 2100 g/Ha (active ingredient).[10]

Health

Butralin is of low acute toxicity.[11] There is no association with lung cancer.[5]

It is very toxic to Daphnia.

In soil

Butralin is likely to be moderately persistent to persistent and relatively immobile in terrestrial environments. Butralin is stable to abiotic hydrolysis and photodegradation on soil. Its characteristics are unlike those of chemicals that leach to groundwater.[3] Butralin's major soil metabolite is 4-tert-butyl-2,6-dinitroaniline.[12] Other major metabolites see the loss of more or all of the carbons and hydrogen over the nitrogen, or loss of oxygen from the nitro groups. The principle residue in crops, however, is the parent butralin.[13]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Butralin® Sucker Control Specimen Label .
  2. Web site: Pesticide Product Label, NUFARM SAS TECHNICAL BUTRALIN,04/25/2019 . US EPA . April 25, 2019.
  3. Web site: Pesticides - Fact Sheet for Butralin . EPA . May 1998.
  4. Chen . Zenglong . Kang . Shanshan . Ren . Xin . Cheng . Youpu . Li . Wei . Zhao . Lilin . Large-scale fate profiling of butralin between cultivated and processed garlics for multi-risk estimations . Science of the Total Environment . May 2023 . 873 . 162369 . 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162369. 36828059 .
  5. Boulanger . Mathilde . Tual . Séverine . Lemarchand . Clémentine . Baldi . Isabelle . Clin . Bénédicte . Lebailly . Pierre . Occupational & Environmental Medicine . 0441 Exposure to dinitroanilines and risk of lung cancer (Lc) by subtypes: Results from the agrican cohort . August 2017 . 74 . Suppl 1. A140.1 . 10.1136/oemed-2017-104636.365.
  6. Elmore . C. L. . Bayer . D. E. . Mitotic and structural effects of nitralin and butralin on ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) root meristems . Weed Research . April 1992 . 32 . 2 . 77–86 . 10.1111/j.1365-3180.1992.tb01864.x.
  7. Web site: TOBRALIN 36% EC . AgriFocus Limitada . 18 November 2024 .
  8. Web site: UPL Mozambique . www.upl-ltd.com.
  9. Development of new environment-friendly pesticides formulation butralin . 2012 International Symposium on Geomatics for Integrated Water Resource Management . October 2012 . 1–3 . 10.1109/giwrm.2012.6349603.
  10. Applied research on butralin-new environmentally friendly formulation and analysis of its environmental and economic effects . 2012 International Symposium on Geomatics for Integrated Water Resource Management . October 2012 . 1–4 . 10.1109/giwrm.2012.6349604.
  11. Web site: Butralin • Potentially found in food, soil, water, dust, compost, hair, cosmetics, a medication, animals & pets, home or workplace • its health effects • should I avoid it • testing with Toxtest in Australia • substance_id_9577 • CASRN: 33629-47-9 . www.toxno.com.au.
  12. Web site: ECM - Butralin & Degradate in Soil - MRID 43749801 . EPA.
  13. Reasoned opinion on the review of the existing maximum residue levels (MRLs) for butralin according to Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005: Review of the existing MRLs for butralin . EFSA Journal . April 2012 . 10 . 4 . 2651 . 10.2903/j.efsa.2012.2651.

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