The degradation of diflubenzuron and its chief metabolites in soils. Part I: Hydrolytic cleavage of diflubenzuron

[14C]Diflubenzuron is readily degraded in various agricultural soils and in hydro-soil; 50% of the applied dose of 1 mg kg−1 was metabolised in 2 days or less. The chief products of hydrolysis were identified as 4-chlorophenylurea and 2, 6-difluorobenzoic acid. A part of the radioactivity, increasing with incubation time, could not be extracted. Release from the soil of [14C]carbon dioxide, derived from both labelled phenyl rings, points to the ultimate mineralisation of diflubenzuron.