Sodium chlorate green plant parts. It can also kill through root absorption. Sodium chlorate may be used to control a variety of plants including morning glory, canada thistle, johnson grass, bamboo, Ragwort, and St John's wort. The herbicide is mainly used on non-crop land for spot treatment and for total vegetation control on areas including roadsides, fenceways, and ditches. Sodium chlorate is also used as a defoliant and desiccant for: If used in combination with atrazine, it increases the persistence of the effect. If used in combination with 2,4-D, performance is improved. Sodium chlorate has a soil sterilant effect. Mixing with other
Chlorate natural chlorate deposits around the world, with relatively high concentrations found in arid and hyper-arid regions. The chlorate was also measured in rainfall samples with the amount of chlorate similar to perchlorate. It is suspected that chlorate and perchlorate may share a common natural formation mechanism and could be a part of the chlorine biogeochemistry cycle. From a microbial standpoint, the presence of natural chlorate could also explain why there is a variety of microorganisms capable of reducing chlorate to chloride. Further, the evolution of chlorate reduction may be an ancient phenomenon as all perchlorate reducing bacteria described to date