Concentrations of organic contaminants in common productive soils based on the total soil mass give a misleading account of actual contamination effects. This is attributed to the fact that productive soils are essentially water-saturated, with the result that the soil uptake of organic compounds occurs principally by partition into the soil organic matter (SOM). The soil contamination intensity of a compound is governed by the concentration in the SOM (Com), i.e., the effective contamination level, rather than by the concentration in whole soil (Cs). This SOM-based index is considered timely needed for a evaluating the contamination effects of food crops grown in different soils and for establishing a dependable priority ranking for intended remediation of numerous contamination sites. Given that the uptake of organic matter by plants is considered to occur by passive transport, a partition-limited plant uptake model can be formulated on the basis of the contaminant passive uptake as a series of local partition processes between various plant organic compartments and water (including soil porewater). This model can satisfactorily account for the crop contamination data published in several studies. Pot experiments were conducted this year by cultivating radishes and carrots into soil containing different organic matter in which differential concentrations of PBDEs and HCB were spiked. In addition, SPME experiments were carried out in HCB-spiked soils. Results obtained from both pot and SPME experiments somehow agreed with the trend predicted by the partition theory.