Uptake and translocation of non-ionised pesticides in the emergent aquatic plant parrot feather Myriophyllum aquaticum

The uptake of four (14)C-labelled non-ionised compounds, the methyl carbamoyloxime insecticide/nematicide oxamyl and three model phenylureas, from solution by rooted stems of the aquatic plant parrot feather Myriophyllum aquaticum (Vell.) Verdc], together with translocation to the emergent shoots, was measured over periods of 24 and 48 h. Uptake into the submerged tissues of roots and stem base could be ascribed to two processes: movement into the aqueous phase of cells and then partitioning onto the plant solids. This latter process was related to lipophilicity (as measured by the l-octanol/water partition coefficient, K(ow)) and gave rise to high uptake rates of the most lipophilic compounds. Translocation to shoots was passive and was optimal at log K(ow) approximately 1.8, at which the efficiency of translocation of compound was about 40% of that of water. This optimum log K(ow) was identical to that observed previously in barley, although the translocation efficiency was somewhat less in parrot feather. Solvation parameters were applied to model uptake and translocation of a set of ten compounds by barley with the particular objective of understanding why translocation efficiency is lower at log K(ow) > 1.8.