Decomposition of Pentachlorophenol in Paddy Soil

The herbicide, pentachlorophenol decomposes within a few weeks after its application in rice fields. A reductive dechloronation was revealed as one of its decomposition pathways, in which some microorganisms play a dominant role and other soil chemical factors in a reduced condition are relatively of little importance. The stable decomposition products found in the paddy soil were 2,3,4,5-, 2,3,5,6- and 2,3,4,6-tetrachlorophenol, 2,4,5- and 2,3,5-trichlorophenol, 3,4- and 3,5-dichlorophenol, and 3-chlorophenol.