Ethylene dibromide (EDB, or 1,2-dibromoethane) was used in the United States as a soil fumigant from 1948 until 1983, when its discovery in stored grain and in wells prompted EPA to ban further agricultural uses. Traces of EDB have also been found in some Connecticut soils up to 20 yr after their last known fumigation. This persistence in soil and water raised concern over possible contamination of vegetables or lawn grasses planted in soil previously treated with EDB. To simulate a worst case, radishes (Raphanus sativasL. cv. Champion) and perennial rye grass (Lolium perennecv. Pennfine) were planted within 7 d after fumigation, rather than waiting the usual 4 to 6 wk for the EDB to dissipate. Successive harvests during the first growing season showed that the concentrations of EDB in the tissue decreased relative to the concentrations in the soil. No EDB was taken up by radishes or grass in the second growing season after fumigation, although residues of EDB that were resistant to extraction with hexane persisted in the soil and could be removed only with hot methanol. These experiments show that the traces of EDB found to persist in soil for many years after fumigation are not taken up by plants. Also, the linearity of the dose-response curves for uptake of organic compounds by plants assumed by EPA in its proposed regulations for land application of sewage sludge should be reexamined.