The fate of paraquat in plants

Abstract

An agricultural chemical should not be recommended for general practice unless it can be proved safe. Hence the amount of the chemical agent, or its breakdown products, likely to occur in a treated food crop must first be ascertained and shown to be far less than the amount that can be fed without harm to test animals. The manner in which the compound decomposes must be known in detail and sensitive tests for the parent chemical and its decomposition products worked out.