Three kinds of soils in China, krasnozem, fluvo-aquic soil, and phaeozem, as well as the humic acids (HAs) isolated from them, were used to adsorb the herbicide butachlor from water. Under the experimental conditions, the adsorption amount of butachlor on soils was positively correlated with the content of soil organic matter. HAs extracted from different kinds of soils had different adsorption capacity for the tested herbicide, which was positively correlated with their content of carbonyls. The adsorption mechanism was studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and cross-polarization with magic angle spinning C-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (CP-MAS C-13 NMR) techniques. It was showed that the adsorption mainly took place on the C=O, phenolic and alcoholic O-H groups of HAs. It was also confirmed that the adsorption mechanism was hydrogen bonds formation between the above groups of HAs and butachlor molecules. (c) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.