Degradation dynamics of the insecticide: clothianidin (Dantop 50 % WDG) in a tea field ecosystem.

The fate of clothianidin [(E)-1-(2-chloro-1, 3-thiazol-5-ylmethyl)-3-methyl-2-nitroguanidine] applied to tea plant was studied at two location in West Bengal, India. The insecticide was applied in Tea field at two doses @30 and 60 g.a.i./ha during June-July 2009. Solid-phase extraction and liquid-liquid extraction was employed for the determination of this insecticide in tea samples. Clothianidin residues were analyzed and estimated quantitatively by HPLC at λ(max) 250 nm. The observed half life values of made tea and green tea leaf ranges from 3.71 to 4.07 days and 4.07 to 4.49 days respectively.