Progress in the Mechanism of Action and Ecological Effects of the Herbicide Diclofop-methyl

Diclofop-methyl (DM) is an aryloxyphenoxypropanoic acid herbicide first registered by Farbwerke Hoechst AG for the control of wild oat and other annual grasses.It’s reported that while coming into contact with the soil,a rapid hydrolysis of DM to the corresponding acid form was followed by a much slower hydrolytic process to some trace breakdown products,which may be affected by soil organic matter,pH,aerobic and anaerobic conditions and other factors.Both the parent compound DM and the main degradation product diclofop acid(DC) are herbicidally bioactive,meanwhile cause ecological toxicity such as acute/chronic toxicity,endocrine disrupting effects and proliferation of peroxisomes to non-target organisms like fish and mammals.Furthermore,several biotypes resistant to DM were reported recently to be evolving as the predominant species,which consequently increase more environmental stress.The environmental behavior and ecological effects of DM as well as the mechanisms of resistance to DM were reviewed,and some problems,e.g.lack of data for the ecological toxicity especially in the enantioselectivity of DM,were discussed.Further research suggestions were proposed based on these findings.