Use of Liquid Scintillation Counting to Study the Fate of C14 Labeled Glyphosate in Entisol Soil System

Due to reduced tillage practices, glyphosate is widely used as a herbicide in grain farming systems of Australia. Residual glyphosate when mixed with water bodies can be a health concern. Updated information concerning the fate of glyphosate in soil systems with biochar amendment is lacking. For this experiment, different biochars were weighed and premixed in 2 ml Eppendorf tubes. A solution (Mixture of mercuric chloride and radiolabeled C14 glyphosate) having different concentrations provided by the commonwealth scientific and industrial research organization was used. Tubes having solutions were shaken on end over end shaker for 24 h. Tubes were removed from the shaker and centrifuged for 5 min. at 13000 revolutions per minute. Digested, labeled samples after counting disintegration per minute on Tricarb 4810 were used as sorption data. Results showed significant adsorption of glyphosate in the Entisol soil systems in the presence of char. The results have been published, however, the author wants to communicate in detail the role of liquid scintillation counting as a future research method for radiolabeled herbicides to understand the adsorption behavior of herbicides like glyphosate in different soil systems.