What properties determine pesticide mobility?
A pesticide s mobility depends on its water solubility, solubility in fat, adsorption to soil, and its tendency to become a vapor. A pesticide that is adsorbed to or taken up into a plant is less likely to become a vapor, be washed off onto the soil, or be transferred to the skin if the plant is touched. Pesticides that strongly adsorb to soil are not very mobile in water that infiltrates toward groundwater, or water that runs off into surface water, such as a pond, lake or stream. Pesticides strongly adsorbed to soil may still enter surface water if there is soil erosion. Pesticides strongly adsorbed to soil do not volatilize easily.
