The influence of temperature (30 and 40 ºC) and soil humidity (20, 50 and 70% of water holding capacity) on the degradation of the herbicide diurom and the endosulfan metabolite, endosulfan sulfate was studied under laboratory conditions, in different soil layers (0-30, 30-38 and 38-83 cm) of an Oxisol (Yellow Latosol) collected in an agricultural area of Mato Grosso State, Brazil. Endosulfan sulfate was rapidly degraded under lower soil humidity, higher temperature and deeper soil layers. For diurom the opposite was observed as a consequence of its higher water solubility and lower soil sorption coefficient.