Plant Uptake Of Organic Chemicals Research Articles

Modeling the Plant Uptake of Organic Chemicals, Including the Soil−Air−Plant Pathway

The soil-air-plant pathway is potentially important in the vegetative accumulation of organic pollutants from contaminated soils. While a number of qualitative frameworks exist for the prediction of plant accumulation of organic chemicals by this pathway, there are few quantitative models that incorporate this pathway. The aim of the present study was to produce a model that included this pathway and could quantify its contribution to the total plant contamination for a range of organic pollutants. A new model was developed from three submodels for the processes controlling plant contamination via this pathway: aerial deposition, soil volatilization, and systemic translocation. Using the combined model, the soil-air-plant pathway was predicted to account for a significant proportion of the total shoot contamination for those compounds with log K(OA) > 9 and log K(AW) < -3. For those pollutants with log K(OA) < 9 and log K(AW) > -3 there was a higher deposition of pollutant via the soil-air-plant pathway than for those chemicals with log K(OA) > 9 and log K(AW) < -3, but this was an insignificant proportion of the total shoot contamination because of the higher mobility of these compounds via the soil-root-shoot pathway. The incorporation of the soil-air-plant pathway into the plant uptake model did not significantly improve the prediction of the contamination of vegetation from polluted soils when compared across a range of studies. This was a result of the high variability between the experimental studies where the bioconcentration factors varied by 2 orders of magnitude at an equivalent log K(OA). One potential reason for this is the background air concentration of the pollutants under study. It was found background air concentrations would dominate those from soil volatilization in many situations unless there was a soil hot spot of contamination, i.e., >100 mg kg(-1).

A Semi-Quantitative Approach to Deriving a Model Structure for the Uptake of Organic Chemicals by Vegetation

An expert elicitation exercise was undertaken to determine those components and processes that are most important for modeling plant uptake of organic chemicals. The state of our knowledge of these processes was also assessed. This semi-quantitative analysis allowed the construction of an idealized model with seven compartments; soil bulk, soil water, roots, stem, leaves, fruit, and air. Three main areas were identified further research: 1) the uptake of organic chemicals by fruit; 2) the internal transfer of organic chemicals between plant structures (e.g., stem and leaves); and 3) the transfer via the soil–air–plant pathway. Until new data becomes available to quantify these processes, it is proposed that an equilibrium partitioning approach is used between plant components other than fruit or that models consist of both an edible and inedible compartment.

Plant uptake of organic chemicals: Current developments and recommendations for future research

Plant uptake of organic chemicals: Current developments and recommendations for future research

Plant Uptake of Organic Chemicals: Current Developments and Recommendations for Future Research

Plant Uptake of Organic Chemicals: Current Developments and Recommendations for Future Research

Plant Uptake of Non-Ionic Organic Chemicals

Plant uptake of organic chemicals is an important process when considering the risks associated with land contamination, the role of vegetation in the global cycling of persistent organic pollutants, and the potential for industrial discharges to contaminate the food chain. There have been some significant advances in our understanding of the processes of plant uptake of organic chemicals in recent years; most notably there is now a better understanding of the air to plant transfer pathway, which may be significant for a number of industrial chemicals. This review identifies the key processes involved in the plant uptake of organic chemicals including those for which there is currently little information, e.g., plant lipid content and plant metabolism. One of the principal findings is that although a number of predictive models exist using established relationships, these require further validation if they are to be considered sufficiently robust for the purposes of contaminated land risk assessment or for prediction of the global cycling of persistent organic pollutants. Finally, a number of processes are identified which should be the focus of future research.

Application of the partition-limited model for plant uptake of organic chemicals from soil and water

This study further examined the merits of the partition-limited model for the plant uptake of organic chemicals from soil and water. The influential factors on the quasi-equilibrium factor ( α pt) of the model were evaluated for a number of systems. The present study manifested a generally high efficiency of the model for prediction of phenanthrene and pyrene uptake by plants. The overall model predictions are within an order of magnitude of the measured values, with the differences between the estimated and measured concentrations being less than 93.7% in most cases. Modeled root concentrations seemed to be more accurate than modeled shoot concentrations. Generally, the calculated α pt values for plant uptake of chemicals from water, including phenanthrene and pyrene on basis of our experimental data and lindane and trifluralin on basis of the available literature data, tend to be relatively constant after an initial fast increase with increasing uptake time. α pt values for root uptake of these chemicals are always greater than those for shoot uptake. In addition, α pt values for various root uptake of hydrophobic chemicals, e.g., phenanthrene and pyrene, exhibit significantly positive correlations with root lipid contents ( p<0.05, n=10). This investigation substantiated the concept of the partition-limited model and its utility for vegetation-uptake assessment.

Uptake of trifluralin and lindane from water by ryegrass

Understanding of the plant uptake of organic chemicals is essential to assessing contaminant mobility in the ecosystem, exposure to humans, and phytoremediation technologies. In this study, we measured the uptake of trifluralin and lindane from water by ryegrass as a function of uptake time for periods of 96 and 120 h, respectively. Trifluralin concentration in ryegrass increased sharply at the early stage of uptake and reached the maximum at 10 h, and then decreased with uptake time. 14C-labelled trifluralin uptake displayed a similar trend but a higher 14C-concentration than that of extracted parent compound, indicating metabolism and formation of bound residues following trifluralin uptake. Lindane concentration in ryegrass slowly increased with uptake time and approached a plateau, indicating minimal metabolism and formation of bound residues. The difference in the uptake characteristics of these two chemicals may be related to the differences in their lipophilicity, and chemical and biological reactivities. A two-compartment model accounting for the contributions of transpiration, metabolism and formation of bound residues to overall uptake was developed to assess the uptake kinetics. The model adequately described the uptake of trifluralin and lindane into ryegrass by providing the first-order rate constants of uptake, release, transpiration, and metabolism and formation of bound residues. These rate constants are used in calculating plant concentration factor (PCF). The ratios of trifluralin concentrations in ryegrass to its aqueous concentrations are between the PCF at thermodynamic equilibrium and the PCF at steady state, suggesting the utility of both PCF values.

Predicting plant uptake of organic chemicals from soil or air using octanol/water and octanol/air partition ratios and a molecular connectivity index

AbstractA bioconcentration ratio (BCR) represents the ratio of the concentration of a chemical found in an exposed biological system, such as a plant or fish, to the concentration in the exposure medium (water, soil, or air). A comparison is made of the precision and accuracy of the molecular connectivity index (MCI) and the octanol/water partition coefficient (Kow) as predictors of BCRs from the soil matrix into above‐ or below‐ground vegetation tissues. Calculated octanol/air partition coefficient (Koa) values are compared with calculated Kow and MCI values as predictors of measured air‐to‐plant BCRs. Based on a statistical evaluation of explained variance, residual error, and cross‐validation, this evaluation reveals that the MCI provides higher precision, greater ease of use, and a more cost‐effective method for predicting the potential bioconcentration of a chemical from soil into above‐ground vegetation. Statistical analyses of the various methods reveal that both the Kow and MCI approaches have a similar level of precision for predicting BCRs from soil solution into roots and, among MCI, Koa and Kow; Koa is somewhat more precise and valid than MCI and Kow for estimating uptake, but all have limited accuracy as bioconcentration predictors. These latter results are derived mainly from the paucity of both reliable Koa values and measured air‐to‐plant BCRs and indicate a need for more experimental measurements from which more accurate models may be developed.