Microbial Degradation of Neonicotinoid Insecticides in the Soil

Soil from a field with a previous history of neonicotinoid insecticide use and soil from an unexposed soil was treated with a known concentration of either imidacloprid or thiamethoxam.  This experiment was done on both sterilized (autoclaved) and unsterilized soil.  At 15 days after treatment, soil was processed and placed in cold storage for subsequent analyses of neonicotinoid concentrations, including known metabolites.  Our intent was to determine if soil microbes contributed to the degradation of imidacloprid or thiamethoxam.