In studying the absorption, distribution, and metabolism of dalapon (2,2-dichloropropionic acid) in relation to phytotoxicity, a number of simplified techniques were developed, and other established procedures were usefully modified. The techniques of autoradiography, extraction and fractionation, counting, and paper partition cochromatography were effectively combined, thus permitting qualitative and quantitative determination of distribution patterns and, to some extent, of the metabolic fate of translocated herbicides. Although this report is concerned specifically with dalapon, the approach employed -w ith that compound should be applicable, with minor changes, to the study of others.Physiological findings resulting from application of these techniques will be published separately.3 In many instances, however, the maximum benefit from these valu.. able research tools is not realized. Too often, for example, the sole approach used by plant scientists is that of gross autoradiography. That technique, although put to excellent use in the past (Arnon et al., 1940;Boyd, 1955; Colwell, 1942;Crafts, 1953Crafts, , 1956 and variously improved in more recent herbicidal studies (Pallas and Crafts, 1957; Yamaguchi and Crafts, 1958), permits only semiquantitative interpretation of results, and does not characterize the translocated radioactive substance(s) either as the original herbicide or some degradation products thereof. Moreover, when counting is done, the data are usually expressed in relative rather than absolute terms. Results are often more meaningful if several approaches are used concurrently.In recent studies on the absorption, distribution, and metabolism of 2,2-dichloropropionic acid (dalapon) in relation to phytotoxicity, the techniques of (a) autoradiography, (b) extraction and fractionation, (c) counting, and (d) paper partition cochromatography were effectively combined. This combination of techniques permits the determination of distributional patterns and, to some extent, the metabolic fate of translocated herbicides, both qualitatively and quantitatively.