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Part of the book series: Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology ((RECT,volume 189))

Abstract

Simazine (6-chloro-N,N’-diethyl-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine) was first introduced in 1956 by the Swiss company J.R. Geigy (Cremlyn 1990). It has been widely used for preemergence control of broadleaf weeds and annual grasses in both agricultural and noncrop fields. For example, in California it was the 28th most used pesticide in 2003 (306,100 kg), with applications primarily on fruit and vegetable crops (CDPR 2003a,b). Simazine is also used as an algicide in fish farm ponds, aquariums, and cooling towers. However, it is toxic to some aquatic animals. For example, Sanders (1969) found that at 22°C 50% lethal concentration (LC50) of simazine for the macrocrustacean amphipod Gammarus lacustris was 30, 21, and 13mg/L after 24-, 48-, and 96-hr exposures, respectively. Also, the effect of the herbicide on the water snail (Lymnea stagnalis) was such that at a water concentration of 2 mg/L all embryos were destroyed within 9d; the (50% effective dose) ED50 being 0.02mg/L (Kosanke et al. 1988).

Communicated by Ronald S. Tjeerdema

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Gunasekara, A.S., Troiano, J., Goh, K.S., Tjeerdema, R.S. (2007). Chemistry and Fate of Simazine. In: Whitacre, D.M., et al. Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, vol 189. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35368-5_1

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