The nature of soil organic matter affects sorption of pesticides. 1. Relationships with carbon chemistry as determined by 13C CPMAS NMR spectroscopy.

The structural composition of soil organic matter (SOM) was determined in twenty-seven soils with different vegetation from several ecological zones of Australia and Pakistan using solid-state CPMAS 13C NMR. The SOM was characterized using carbon types derived from the NMR spectra. Relationships were determined between Koc (sorption per unit organic C) of carbaryl(1-naphthylmethylcarbamate) and phosalone (S-6-chloro-2,3-dihydro-2-oxobenzoxazol-3-ylmethyl O,O-diethyl phosphorodithioate) and the nature of organic matter in the soils. Substantial variations were revealed in the structural composition of organic matter in the soils studied. The variations in Koc values of the pesticides observed for the soils could be explained only when variations in the aromatic components of SOM were taken into consideration. The highly significant positive correlations of aromaticity of SOM and Koc values of carbaryl and phosalone revealed that the aromatic component of SOM is a good predictor of a soil's ability to bind such nonionic pesticides.