VETERINARY ANTIBIOTICS (VA) ENTER AGRICULTURAL LAND VIA APPLICATION OF ANIMAL MANURE OR UNTREATED IRRIGATION WATER. THIS UNDESIRABLE ENTRY CAN AFFECT THE MOBILITY OF THE PLANT MICRONUTRIENT BORON (B). THE CONCENTRATION RANGE OF B BETWEEN DEFICIENCY AND TOXICITY FOR CROPS IS VERY NARROW. GENERALLY, PLANTS UPTAKE B FROM SOIL SOLUTION. THEREFORE, THERE IS A CRITICAL NEED TO EVALUATE THE PROCESSES AFFECTING B RETENTION/ RELEASE IN MULTICOMPONENT ENVIRONMENTS. THE RETENTION/ RELEASE MECHANISMS OF BOTH B AND VAS IN BINARY MIXTURES WERE NOT REPORTED. THIS INFORMATION WILL BE RELEVANT FOR BOTH PREDICTING THE FATE OF B IN THE PRESENCE OF VAS AND IN THE RISK ASSESSMENT OF B OR VA MOBILITY IN THE ENVIRONMENT. HERE WE PROPOSE A SEED PROJECT, IN WHICH THE SURFACE INTERACTION MECHANISMS OF B AND VAS ON RELEVANT SOIL MINERALS AND THE CLAY FRACTION OF A SUB SOIL WILL BE EVALUATED USING IN SITU ATTENUATED TOTAL REFLECTANCE FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED (ATR-FTIR) SPECTROSCOPY, WET-CHEMICAL AND SURFACE COMPLEXATION MODELING (SCM) APPROACHES. THIS SEED PROJECT WILL PROVIDE THE INFORMATION TO ENHANCE A FUTURE LARGE SCALE PROPOSAL IN WHICH B AVAILABILITY IN THE PRESENCE OF VAS WILL BE EVALUATED IN MORE COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS, AND WHERE FIELD-SCALE STUDIES WILL BE DESIGNED. THIS PROJECT IS RELEVANT TO THE PROGRAM AREA PRIORITY "A) FOUNDATIONAL RESEARCH TO ADVANCE SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROCESSES AND INTERACTIONS" AND ADDRESSING 'CHEMICALS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN (CEC)'. THIS SEED GRANT WILL ADVANCE FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND PROVIDE PREDICTIVE TOOLS TO ASSESS CEC AND B INTERACTIONS AND TO MITIGATE MOVEMENT.