title: Vertical profile of PCDD/Fs, dioxin-like PCBs, other PCBs, PAHs, chlorobenzenes, DDX, HCHs, organotin compounds and chlorinated ethers in dated sediment/soil cores from flood-plains of the river Elbe, Germany.
abstract: Concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and other organic micropollutants were determined in dated sediment/soil cores collected from the flood-plain of the river Elbe near Pevestorf (PT), approximately 125 km upstream of Hamburg, and Heuckenlock (HL) in southeast of Hamburg. Concentrations of PCDD/Fs peaked sharply at PT in the 1950s and at HL at the end of the 1940s. Cluster analyses provide evidence that the region of Bitterfeld-Wolfen (about 350-400 km upstream of Hamburg) could be the source of the PCDD/F contamination existing in the cores PT and HL since the 1940s. Obviously it is caused by sediments of the river Elbe of a similar composition. Whereas the PCDD/Fs, HCHs (hexacyclohexane isomers), DDX (DDT, DDD, DDE), and tetrachlorinated ethers in PT and HL presumably originated predominantly from the Bitterfeld-Wolfen region, organotin compounds in HL and dichlorinated haloethers in HL during the 1940s and 1950s can probably largely be attributed to emissions from the Hamburg region. Although they are separated by a large distance, in both sediment cores PT and HL concentrations and composition patterns of most organic micropollutants analyzed widely match. Inductively it can be concluded that similar contaminations will be found in many of the river bank soils between the Bitterfeld-Wolfen region and Hamburg. Excavation of top soils may uncover highly contaminated materials. Since the dated sediment cores show the variation in contaminants in the Elbe sediments over a defined time period, it is possible to make an approximate assessment of the actual degree of contamination to be expected in areas where in previous decades contaminated dredged sediments from the Elbe and from the Port of Hamburg have been deposited on land and used for building plots or for agricultural purposes.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Hygiene und Umwelt, Marckmannstr. 129 b, D-20539 Hamburg, Germany. rainer.goetz@hu.hamburg.de
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Götz
authors.forename: Otto-Heinrich
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Friesel
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Herrmann
authors.forename: Eckard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jantzen
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kutzke
authors.forename: Raimund
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lauer
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Paepke
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Roch
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Rohweder
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sievers
authors.forename: Burkhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stachel
mesh_terms: D001572:Benzofurans / Q000032:analysis*; D002722:Chlorobenzenes / Q000032:analysis*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D005858:Germany; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000633:toxicity; D009947:Organotin Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis*; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000032:analysis; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D045483:Rivers; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D001572:Benzofurans; D002722:Chlorobenzenes; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D009947:Organotin Compounds; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D012989:Soil Pollutants; C023614:dibenzofuran; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls; C031294:chlorobenzene