A report about pioneer chemical’s dicamba

Dicamba (3,6-dichloro-2-methoxybenzoic acid) has proven to be a highly beneficial herbicide. It is normally applied as the dimethylamine salt. Unfortunately, this salt has a volatility that causes the product, under certain conditions of application, to come into contact with desirable plants, such as soybeans, that it can damage. This is caused by its volatility.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to find a derivative of dicamba that will maintain or improve the beneficial properties of the product while lowering the volatility.
It is another object of the present invention to locate a compound that has the herbicidal properties of dicamba with enhanced solubility characteristics.
Other objects of the present invention will be seen from the ensuing description.
It has been found that the 2-(2"-aminoethoxy)ethanol salt of dicamba (3,6-dichloro-2-methoxybenzoic acid) decreases the volatility and improves other less advantageous properties of dicamba without detracting from its beneficial herbicidal properties.
Dicamba was described and patented in U.S. Pat. No. 3,013,054 issued Dec. 12, 1961. Since that time it has become a valuable herbicidal product, particularly in the control of weeds in corn. While it is safe to corn plants, it does not harm certain other beneficial crops, such as soybeans. Consequently, care must be taken so that it does not come into contact with such plants.
Dicamba is normally applied as the dimethylamine salt. Unfortunately, this salt is sufficiently volatile that the product applied to a corn crop can come into contact and injure adjacent crops, such as soybeans. This problem cannot be readily solved by the use of additives or other means except very careful application procedures under specified weather conditions. This is often very difficult to accomplish.
It has now been found that by using the previously unknown 2-(2"-aminoethyoxy)ethanol salt of dicamba that the product has a sufficiently low volatility, so as to prevent the product from volatilizing onto undesired valuable crops, and improved solubility without any loss of herbicidal properties. 

Yangzhou pioneer chemical CO.,LTD.

A widely used farm pesticide first introduced

By Miguel Llanos, msnbc.com
A widely used farm pesticide first introduced in the 1990s has caused significant changes to bee colonies and removing it could be the key factor in restoring nature"s army of pollinators, according to two studies released Thursday.
The scientists behind the studies in Europe called for regulators to consider banning the class of chemicals known as neonicotinoid insecticides. In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency told msnbc.com that the studies would be incorporated into a review that"s currently under way.
A pesticide trade group questioned the data, saying the levels of pesticide used were unrealistically high, while the researchers said the levels used were typical of what bees would find on farms.
"Our study raises important issues regarding pesticide authorization procedures," stated Mikael Henry, co-author of a study on honey bees. "So far, they mostly require manufacturers to ensure that doses encountered on the field do not kill bees, but they basically ignore the consequences of doses that do not kill them but may cause behavioral difficulties."
"There is an urgent need to develop alternatives to the widespread use of neonicotinoid pesticides on flowering crops wherever possible," added the authors of the second study on bumble bees.
Last week, a coalition of environmental groups and beekeepers asked the EPA to suspend the use of the pesticide, which is widely used in flowering crops like corn, sunflower and cotton to combat insects.
The studies are the first to go outside the lab and into the fields, where the experts said they detected how the pesticide impacts bees as they collect pollen and pollinate flowers and crops.
Honey bee populations have been crashing around the world in recent years, and pesticides have been suspected, along with other potential factors such as parasites, disease and habitat loss, in what"s known as Colony Collapse Disorder. In the U.S., some beekeepers in 2006 began reporting losses of 30-90 percent of their hives, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Combating Colony Collapse Disorder is hardly an esoteric exercise. The USDA notes that "bee pollination is responsible for $15 billion in added crop value, particularly for specialty crops such as almonds and other nuts, berries, fruits, and vegetables.
"About one mouthful in three in the diet directly or indirectly benefits from honey bee pollination," it adds.
, one study by British scientists looked at honey bees and the other by French scientists examined bumble bees, which unlike honey bees live in the wild but also are key pollinators.
In the bumble bee study, researchers concluded that colonies treated with nonlethal levels of the pesticide "had a significantly reduced growth rate and suffered an 85% reduction in production of new queens" compared to colonies without the pesticide.
"It was quite massive," researcher Penelope Whitehorn said of the reduction at a press conference Thursday. "Bumble bees have an annual life cycle and it is only new queens that survive the winter to found colonies in the spring," the authors noted. "Our results suggest that trace levels of neonicotinoid pesticides can have strong negative consequence for queen production by bumble bee colonies under realistic field conditions, and this is likely to have a substantial population-level impact."
In the honey bee study, radio transmitters were attached to the back of bees to see how they foraged in conditions with and without the pesticide.
The pesticide, the researchers concluded, impaired the homing ability of bees and exposed bees were two to three times more likely to die while away from the hive. That "high mortality ... could put a colony at risk of collapse" within a few weeks of exposure, especially in combination with other stressors, they noted.
"We were actually quite surprised by the magnitude," Henry told reporters.
CropLife America, a pesticides trade group, said in a statement that the studies "fail to account for the many real-world factors that impact bee and colony health, and the researchers used unrealistic pesticide dose levels that are not commonly found in practical field situations in agriculture."
Dave Goulson, a University of Stirling researcher with the bumble bee study, countered that the scientific papers "are the closest studies to date to look at the real world situation."
A leading U.S. researcher said the honey bee study "did use a higher dose than we have seen in pollen and nectar."
That study is "not fatally flawed," added Jeff Pettis of the USDA"s Bee Research Laboratory, "but the higher dose must be considered as being a factor in why they saw the loss of bees."
"The bumble bee study, however, used a very realistic dose and the effect on reproduction was the major finding," he told msnbc.com. "The bumble bee study was very convincing in my opinion in being realistic and showing a significant impact on reproduction."
CropLife America spokeswoman Mary Emma Young said the dose in the bumble bee study was "a high level, but not as excessive" as in the honey bee study, and that "similar studies on bumble bees did not show these effects, so more research may be needed."
In the honey bee study, the authors said they tested the bees at an "intensive cereal farming system" in France and used sublethal amounts of thiamethoxam, "a recently marketed neonicotinoid substance currently being authorized in an increasing number of countries worldwide for the protection of oilseed rape, maize and other blooming crops foraged by honey bees."
Goulson noted that EPA rules don"t require pesticide makers to test the product as bees navigate over natural distances and yet that "is where the problems seem to start."
The EPA, contacted by msnbc.com, said it has "begun reviewing the two studies ... and they will be considered" as part of an ongoing process that reviews chemicals. Non-EPA scientists will weigh in at a special meeting in the fall, it added.
The prevailing view among most scientists and regulators is that "complex interactions among multiple stressors" are to blame, the EPA stated.　"While our understanding of the potential role of pesticides in pollinator health declines is still progressing, we continue to seek to learn what regulatory changes, if any, may be effective."

Yangzhou pioneer chemical CO.,LTD

The article about pencycuron

potato processor wages war on waste james?andrews tuesday 01 february 2011 13:40　
inefficiencies in the potato supply chain mean almost half the tubers grown for a retail　
crop won"t make it to the consumer, an industry research project has found. the war on waste　
project, carried out by processing firm , which supplies found that for every 1000t of　
potatoes produced for packing, just 583t made it to the customer. that meant 42% of the crop　
was wasted through inefficiencies from the moment the crop was planted to the day it left　
the retail outlet, said simon bowen, the firm"s agronomy director. field losses through　
bruising, uneven tuber size and poor quality accounted for 6% of losses, while defects　
removed during grading, such as damaged tubers, greens and rots, totalled 12%, he told　
delegates. sprouting, disease and weight loss in the store made up 5% of rejections, but the　
biggest percentage was lost in the pack house, with 22% removed due to defects spotted after　
washing alone. however, this figure might be lower for other retailers, as waitrose demanded　
a high specification, he admitted. rejections from packing, distribution and the retail　
store was no more than 5% in total, he noted. retailers and the supply chains they support　
were coming under increasing scrutiny and food waste would have to be reduced, said dr　
bowen. planting crops in unsuitable soils was the biggest contributor to waste, followed by　
a lack of suitable irrigation and pest and disease management, the study found. size, shape,　
greens and damage were the main reasons for gross defects, and weight loss was the biggest　
contributor in-store. in the pack-house, greens, damage, scab and skin disease were the main　
culprits. although losses occurred at all levels of the supply chain, improving management　
of the crop in the field was the most important place to start, said dr bowen. "quality is　
made in the field, not the pack-house." solanum recently dropped to 30 of the best growers　
from a network of 130, to help meet its target of reducing waste to 35% by the end of the　
project in 2013, said dr bowen. "this was a big rationalisation, but allowed us to work more　
closely with fewer growers and improve agronomy and efficiency." the firm is now helping　
these growers to cut waste by improving soil, water and seed management, and in 2009 they　
managed to reduce waste by 4%. war on waste is a five-year project which started in 2008 to　
assess the level of waste produced in the potato supply chain and come up with practical　
solutions to reduce it. conference bites pvy concern levels of pvy infection in scottish　
seed crops were expected to be high in 2011, meaning some seed crops could be downgraded,　
said jon pickup, head of virology and zoology for numbers of rose grain aphids - the main　
pvy vector - has been increasing steadily for the past three years, and sasa"s virus model　
predicted 32% of the 2011 crop would be infected with pvy. this level of infection meant 6-
7% of the seed crop could be downgraded, he said. it was already too late to protect this　
season"s crop, as virus would have already been transmitted, but growers should act now to　
protect next year"s crop, he warned. watching residues government monitoring of chemical　
residues in potatoes had found a number of active ingredients, including those that would　
not normally be expected, said john sarup, senior potato consultant for sac. these included　
seed treatments pencycuron, iprodione and soil treatment axoxystrobin. growers should　
be more careful when using chemical products at all stages of crop management to avoid　
contamination, he said. "if we are found to be using pesticides inappropriately, we will　
lose them." to plough or not to plough ploughing is energy intensive and time consuming and　
growers should consider if they need to do it, said stuart wale, team leader for sac. almost　
all potato crops in the uk are established behind the plough, but other countries were　
successfully using non-inversion tillage, he said. power-harrowing ground without ploughing　
could halve fuel and labour costs and reduce erosion, he added. elephant in hiding elephant　
hide is a condition that causes a coarse russeting on tubers. it is not well understood and　
is difficult to diagnose, as the effect on tubers can vary, said sac potato pathologist,　
daan kiezebrink. elephant hide can be linked to rhizoctonia, in which case amistar　
(azoxystrobin) could be an effective treatment. but there are other causes, too, he said.

Yangzhou pioneer chemical CO.,LTD.

Toxicokinetics of dicamba (3,6-dichloro-2-methoxy-benzoic acid) and its 3,5-dichloro isomer following intravenous administration to rats

BY： Moheb H. Makary, Joseph C. Street, Raghubir P. Sharma

The distribution and elimination of dicamba (3,6-dichloro-2-methoxy benzoic acid) and another isomer present in dicamba formulation (3,5-dichloro-2-methoxy benzoic acid) were studied in rats following single intravenous injections. Concentrations of dicamba and the isomer were measured at various times in whole blood by EC-GLC after extraction and derivatization with diazomethane. The isomer had different toxicokinetic parameters compared to dicamba. The elimination of dicamba from the blood was rapid with a biological half-life of 0.64 hr (following 100 mg/kg iv dose) while the elimination of the isomer from the blood was much slower with a biological half-life of 16.5 hr (following 20 mg/kg iv dose). However, upon combined dosing of the two compounds the elimination rate constant of dicamba significantly decreased. The isomer had a greater degree of binding to blood serum proteins than dicamba.



Yangzhou pioneer chemical CO.,LTD. 

About USA pesticides :U.S. EPA seeks comment to protect salmon from pesticides

Source:U.S. EPA News Release　

The EPA is seeking comments on draft Reasonable and Prudent Measures (RPMs) and Alternatives (RPAs) included in a draft Biological Opinion received from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). This draft Biological Opinion addresses the potential effects from the pesticide thiobencarb on Pacific salmon and steelhead listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. A second pesticide, molinate, is also included in this Biological Opinion; however at the request of the registrants all uses were cancelled effective July 30, 2008, and the last use date was August 31, 2009. The comment period will be closed on June 12, 2012.


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About pencycuron: An evaluation of pesticide stress induced proteins in three cyanobacterial species- anabaena fertilissima, aulosira fertilissima and westiellopsis prolifica using sds-page

BY：Nirmal Kumar, Rita N. Kumar, Anubhuti Bora and Manmeet Kaur Amb

The whole-cell protein-profiling technique was evaluated for studying differences in banding pattern of three different species of Cyanobacteria i.e. Anabaena fertilissima Aulosira fertilissima and Westiellopsis prolifica under the influence of four different pesticides-2,4-D (Ethyl Ester of 2,4-Dichloro Phenoxy Acetic Acid), Pencycuron (N-[(4-chlorophenyl)methyl]-Ncyclopentyl-N"–phenylurea), Endosulfan (6,7,8,9,10,10hexachloro-1,5,5a,6,9,9a-hexahydro-6,9-methano-2,4,3-benzodioxathiepine-3-oxide) and Tebuconazole (1-(4-Chlorophenyl)-4,4-dimethyl-3-(1,2,4-triazol-1-ylmethyl)pentan-3-ol). Whole-cell extracts were obtained by sonication treatment (Sonifier cell disruptor -Branson Digital Sonifier S-450D, USA) and were analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). SDS-PAGE analyses of the total protein profile of Anabaena fertilissima, Aulosira fertilissima and Westiellopsis prolifica showed a linear decrease in the protein content with increasing pesticide stress when administered to different concentrations of 2, 4-D, Pencycuron, Endosulfan and Tebuconazole. The results indicate that different stressors exert specific effects on cyanobacterial protein synthesis.



Yangzhou pioneer chemical CO.,LTD. 

About dicamba: Control of common waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus var. rudis) in corn and soybean with sequential herbicide applications

By: Soltani, Nader
Soltani, N., Vyn, J. D. and Sikkema, P. H. 2009. Control of common waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus var. rudis) in corn and soybean with sequential herbicide applications. Can. J. Plant Sci. 89: 127-132. Common waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus) is an aggressive annual broadleaf whose distribution is expected to increase rapidly in agricultural land in eastern Canada. Eight field experiments (four in corn and four in soybean) over a 2-yr period (2005 and 2006) were established on two Ontario farms (near Comber and Petrolia, Ontario) with waterhemp infestations to evaluate the efficacy of various PRE- and POST-emergence herbicides applied alone or in sequence for the control of waterhemp in corn and soybean. There was minimal injury (up to 3.8%) to corn and soybean from the herbicide treatments evaluated. In corn, sequential herbicide programs of isoxaflutole+atrazine PRE fb either dicamba POST, dicamba/diflufenzopyr POST, dicamba/atrazine POST or mesotrione+atrazine POST provided consistent full-season control of waterhemp. Corn yield was reduced 48% when waterhemp was not controlled. Corn yield was equivalent to the weed-free check with the herbicide treatments evaluated. In soybean, PRE or POST herbicides alone provided 41 to 94% control of waterhemp, however, waterhemp control was increased to 90 to 99% with the sequential herbicide programs. Dimethenamid (PRE; 1250 g ha(-1)) followed by glyphosate (POST1; 900 g ha(-1)) followed by glyphosate (POST2; 900 g ha(-1)) controlled waterhemp 99%. Results with waterhemp density and biomass were similar to visible control. Soybean yield was reduced 41% when waterhemp was not controlled. Soybean yield was equivalent to the weed-free check with all the herbicide treatment except dimethenamid PRE, acifluorfen POST1 and fomesafen POST1 where the yield was 30, 19, and 19% lower, respectively.

Yangzhou pioneer chemical CO.,LTD.