It is marketed under the trade names Alanex, Bronco, Cannon, Crop Star, Intrro, Lariat, Lasso, Micro-Tech and Partner.

[3] The largest use of alachlor is as a herbicide for control of annual grasses and broadleaf weeds in crops, primarily on corn, sorghum, and soybeans.

Homologuation in Europe requires a maximum dose of 2,400 g per hectare of AI, or 5 litres/hectare of emulsifiable concentrate or 17 kg/ha of microgranules.

[8] The EPA cited the following long-term effects for exposures at levels above the MCL in drinking water exposed to runoff from herbicide used on row crops: slight skin and eye irritation; at lifetime exposure to levels above the MCL: potential damage to liver, kidney, spleen; lining of nose and eyelids; cancer.

[11] In 2015 a French appeals court upheld the ruling and ordered the company to "fully compensate" the grower.

The half life in aerobic soil ranges from about 6 to 15 days and is considerably shorter under anaerobic conditions.

[13] One possible explanation for the short anaerobic half life is the observation that alachlor is rapidly transformed under anoxia to up to 14 degradation products in the presence of iron-bearing ferruginous smectites.