At present, plant growth regulators play an increasingly important role in global agricultural production. The average growth rate of global sales of plant growth regulators has been above 14% in the past decade. For many years, most plant growth regulators have been considered low-toxicity or slight-toxicity pesticides. However, recent studies have found that many plant growth regulators and their degradation products in the environment are potentially harmful to humans, animals, and plants. As the key factors to control the entering of plant growth regulators into the environment, the environmental behaviors of plant growth regulators in soil could make a significant influence on the risk of plant growth regulators to environmental safety. Therefore, it is critical to investigate the environmental behaviors of plant growth regulators in soil. This study systematically summarizes the environmental behaviors of plant growth regulators in soil from recent research, including the adsorption, desorption, hydrolysis, photolysis, and microbial degradation. Additionally, the factors affecting the environmental behaviors of plant growth regulators in the soil are discussed in detail. Moreover, the future research focus and direction to plant growth regulators are suggested.
Keywords: absorption; degradation; groundwater; plant growth regulators; soil.