Atrazine degradation by anodic Fenton treatment.

Anodic Fenton treatment (AFT), an hydroxyl radical oxidation process recently developed for the degradation of aqueous pesticide waste, was applied to the degradation of atrazine, seven degradation products, and a formulated atrazine product. Using AFT, degradation of the parent compound occurred in 3 min. The concentration profiles of seven degradation products formed during treatment were measured, and degradation pathways are proposed for the treatment. The primary termination product after 10 min was dechlorinated ammeline. Three different 14C labeled atrazine compounds (ethyl, isopropyl and U-triazine ring labeled atrazine) were also treated in an air-tight AFT apparatus and the mass balance was calculated. The triazine ring was not cleaved during this treatment process. Formulated atrazine was 70% degraded in 3 min. AFT holds promise as an effective pesticide-laden water treatment technology.