Carbaryl, a commonly used insecticide, was used in this study as a probe to investigate a new Fenton treatment technology, ion exchange membrane anodic Fenton treatment (membrane AFT). It was found that the degradation kinetics of carbaryl by membrane AFT obeys a previously published AFT model quite well. The NaCl (electrolyte) concentration in two half-cells was optimized for two kinds of membrane. Effects of the H(2)O(2)/Fe(2+) ratio and the Fenton reagent delivery rate were also investigated. The treatment efficiency for anion membrane AFT is higher than for salt-bridge AFT under the same operating conditions. Decreasing the delivery rate of Fenton reagents and increasing the treatment temperature also increase the treatment efficiency. The activation energy for carbaryl degradation by anion membrane AFT was estimated to be 14.7 kJ x mol(-1). 1-Naphthol, 1,4-naphthoquinone, and (phthalic acid-O-)yl N-methylcarbamate were detected by GC-MS as the degradation products of carbaryl by Fenton treatment. No decrease in carbaryl degradation rate was found during repeated use (100 times) of the anion exchange membrane. High and stable treatment efficiency can be achieved using an anion exchange membrane rather than a salt-bridge in the AFT system. Because of its effectiveness and convenience, the use of an ion exchange membrane as a substitute for the salt-bridge used in the previous AFT system has brought the AFT technology a major step closer to practical application.