Mass balance and fate of atrazine-14C and pentachlorophenol-14C (PCP-14C) were studied in short-term tests in a closed aerated laboratory soil-plant system, using two concentrations in soil and two plant species, as well as under outdoor conditions for one vegetation period. In the laboratory, for both pesticides bioaccumulation factors of radiocarbon taken up by the roots into plants were low. They were higher for lower (1 ppm) than for higher soil concentrations (6 ppm for atrazine, 4 ppm for pentachlorophenol) and varied with the plant species. Mineralization to 14CO2 in soil was negatively related to soil concentration only for PCP-14C. Conversion rates in soil including the formation of soil-bound residues were higher for the lower concentrations of both pesticides than for the higher ones; conversion rates in plants were species-dependent. In terms of 14CO2 formation of conversion rates, PCP was less persistent in soil than was atrazine. For both pesticides, laboratory data on conversion and mineralization gave a rough prediction of their persistence in soil under long-term outdoor conditions, whereas bioaccumulation factors in plants under long-term outdoor conditions could not be predicted by short-term laboratory experiments.