Chemistry:Tebuthiuron

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Tebuthiuron is a nonselective broad spectrum herbicide of the urea class. It is used to control weeds, woody and herbaceous plants, and sugar cane.[1] It is absorbed by the roots and transported to the leaves, where it inhibits photosynthesis.[2][3] The ingredient was discovered by Air Products and Chemicals, but was registered by Elanco in the United States in 1974, and later sold to Dow AgroSciences.[4]

Environmental impacts

The Environmental Protection Agency considers tebuthiuron to have a great potential for groundwater contamination, due to its high water solubility, low adsorption to soil particles, and high persistence in soil (its soil half-life is 360 days).

In Europe, tebuthiuron has been banned since November 2002.[5]

Application

Tebuthiuron is used agriculturally in Australia and the United States, usually formulated as granules, pellets or a wettable powder.[6] Pellets can be applied by hand (e.g. onto a clump of regrowth or along a fenceline), and by aircraft or ground equipment.[7] It can be applied any time of year, and once applied remains effective for several years. Tebuthiuron (as a 20% pellet) is applied at 0.5-2 g/m2,[8] equating to 0.1-0.4 g/m2 of active ingredient.


Vandalism

In 2010, tebuthiuron in the form of Dow AgroSciences Spike 80DF was deliberately used in an act of vandalism to poison the live oak trees at Toomer's Corner on the Auburn University campus following the 2010 Iron Bowl.[3][9] The lone perpetrator, a University of Alabama fan, was charged with first-degree criminal mischief and jailed on a $50,000 bond. Remediation involved removing about 1,780 tons of contaminated material.

In 2021, Arthur and Amelia Bond, wealthy summer residents of Camden, Maine poisoned their neighbor's oak trees with tebuthiuron to obtain a better view of Camden Harbor. They paid over $200,000 in fines to address illegal pesticide use and environmental contamination, and $1.5 million to settle with their neighbor.[10]

Tradenames

Tebuthiuron has been sold as "Tebuthiuron", "Brush", "Bullet", "Graslan", "Herbic", "Outlaw", "Perflan", "Reclaim", "Spike" and "Tebulex".[6][11]

References

  1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named extoxnet
  2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named bpa
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Stephen Enloe; Scott McElroy (15 February 2011). "The Poisoning of Toomer's Oaks". Auburn University. http://ocm.auburn.edu/news/toomers_aces.pdf. 
  4. ↑ Durkin, Patrick R. (September 22, 2016). "Tebuthiuron: Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment FINAL REPORT". Syracuse Environmental Research Associates, Inc.. https://www.fs.usda.gov/foresthealth/pesticide/pdfs/Tebuthiuron.pdf. 
  5. ↑ European Commission (2002). "Commission Regulation (EC) No 2076/2002 of 20 November 2002". http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32002R2076. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lewis, Kathleen A.; and Green, Andrew (18 May 2016). "An international database for pesticide risk assessments and management". Human and Ecological Risk Assessment 22 (4): 1050–1064. doi:10.1080/10807039.2015.1133242. 
  7. ↑ "Graslan Herbicide Label". FMC. https://ag.fmc.com/au/en/products/herbicides/graslan-herbicide. 
  8. ↑ "Titan Tebuthiuron (Leaflet)". Titan AG. https://www.titanag.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/TITAN_Tebuthiuron_PM.pdf. 
  9. ↑ "Man arrested in poisoning of Auburn University landmark live oaks". CNN. 17 February 2011. http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/02/17/alabama.auburn.trees/index.html. 
  10. ↑ "Poisoned trees gave a wealthy couple a killer view — and united residents in outrage". NPR. June 19, 2024. https://www.npr.org/2024/06/19/nx-s1-5011566/maine-poisoned-trees-killer-view-missouri-couple-bond. 
  11. ↑ "Tebulex 200GR Herbicide". 20 November 2024. https://specialistsales.com.au/shop/woody-weeds/woody-weed-herbicides/granular-chemicals/tebulex-tebuthiuron-200gr-herbicide/. 



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