Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (2018) 100:553–559 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-018-2290-z Leaching of Clothianidin in Two Diferent Indian Soils: Efect of Organic Amendment Ningthoujam Samarendra Singh 1  · Irani Mukherjee 1  · Shaon Kumar Das 2  · E. Varghese 3 Received: 20 August 2017 / Accepted: 2 February 2018 / Published online: 12 February 2018 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract Clothianidin is a widely used insecticide under Indian subtropical condition. The objective of this study was to generate residue data which aims to understand leaching potential of clothianidin [(E)-1-(2-chloro-1,3-thiazol-5-ylmethyl)-3-methyl-2- nitroguanidine] through packed soil column. The maximum amount of clothianidin was recovered at 0–5 cm soil depth in both Manipur (67.15%) and Delhi soil (52.0%) under continuous fow condition. Manipur and Delhi soil concentrated maximum residue with or without farm yard manure (FYM) in 0–20 cm soil depth. The efect of varying the amount of water enhanced the distribution of residues in the frst 0–5 cm layer. Among the tested soils, residue was detected in the leachate from Delhi soil (0.04 µg/mL). Clothianidin leaching was minimized in soil of Manipur compared to Delhi after incorporation of FYM. As the volume of water increased upto 160 mL, mobility increased and residues moved to lower depth. Clothianidin did not leach out of the 25 cm long soil columns even after percolating water equivalent to 415.42 mm rainfall. Clothianidin is mobile in soil system and mobility can be reduced by organic amendment application. Keyword Clothianidin · Farm yard manure · Leaching · Rainfall · Delhi soil · Manipur soil Pest management has remained an ever challenging situation since agriculture begun in human history. It raises many con- cerns about the environmental problem caused by pesticide usage. The crop protection must ensure a safe environment without comprising the crop productivity to meet the fast growing world population. Pesticide possesses potential to contaminate ground water (USEPA 1997). Often, < 0.1% of pesticides applied to crops reaches target pests and excess pesticides moves throughout the environment contaminating soil, water and biota. (Pimentel and Levitan 1986; Anony- mous 2007; Jeschke et al. 2003, 2011). The environmental impact of the pesticide had shown dependence on active ingredient quantity, application site, partitioning to and con- centration in the air, soil, surface water and groundwater compartments (Werf 1996; Das and Mukherjee 2012a, b). Agrochemicals are transported to ground water via leach- ing (Flury 1996). The soil properties and permeability of subsoil governs pesticide leaching (Kördel and Klein 2006). The leaching potential of pesticide compounds generally favoured by high water solubility, prolong persistence and low distribution coefficient (Kerle et al. 2007; Das and Mukherjee 2012a, b; Mukherjee et al. 2012). Clothianidin is a neonicotinoid insecticide. Clothianidin is persistent and mobile in the environment, stable to hydrolysis, and has potential to leach to ground water and transported via runof to surface water bodies. Solubility is a major factor infuencing leaching pattern of clothianidin pesticides (Kur- wadkar et al. 2014; Das et al. 2017). Organic amendment infuences the distribution of pesticide in the soil profle (Briceño et al. 2007; Mukherjee et al. 2016). The innova- tive life-cycle management of the clothianidin insecticide make it commercially valuable (Jeschke et al. 2011). The clothianidin possess ability to leach down into the waterway owing to water solubility and persistence in soil (Goulson 2013).The complex process of leaching can be simplifed through laboratory soil column study (Sanchez et al. 2003). In-depth understanding is required about the behaviour of these chemical compounds in relation to the environment. The ground water ubiquity score (GUS) of clothianidin is * Irani Mukherjee mukrj_irani@yahoo.com 1 Division of Agricultural Chemicals, IARI, New Delhi 110012, India 2 ICAR National Organic farming Research Institute, Tadong, Gangtok, Sikkim 737102, India 3 Division of Design of Experiment, IASRI, New Delhi 110012, India