25th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry IMOG 2011

P-138
Monitoring organic pollutants (PAHs, PCBs, OCPs) in German
forest soils
Bernhard Aichner 1 , Petra Lehnik-Habrink 1 , Sebastian Hein 1 , Bernd Bussian 2 , Wolfram
Bremser 3 , Irene Nehls 1
1 BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Division 1.2, Berlin, Germany, 2 Federal
Environment Agency of Germany, Division II 2.7, Dessau-Roßlau, Germany, 3 BAM Federal Institute for
Materials Research and Testing, Division 1.4, Berlin, Germany (corresponding
author:bernhard.aichner@bam.de)
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs),
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine
pesticides (OCPs) are three classes of persistent organic
pollutants (POPs) which are ubiquitous in the
environment. To gain a better understanding of the
ecological cycling of POPs through the environment,
reliable monitoring data are indispensible. The
<strong>International</strong> Cooperative Program on Assessment and
Monitoring of Air Pollutants Effects on Forests (ICP
Forests) was launched in 1985. This program connects
several national monitoring projects of different EU
member states in order to monitor effects of
anthropogenic and natural stress factors on the condition
and development of forest ecosystems. In 2005, the
federal states of Germany approved a concept to monitor
POPs within the framework of ICP Forests. This program
was launched and financed by the Federal Environment
Agency of Germany (UBA) and the method for
simultaneous screening of PAHs, PCBs and OCPs was
developed at the BAM Federal Institute for Materials
Research and Testing.
The focus was set on 16 priority PAHs of the US
Environmental Protection Agency, six principal PCBs
(IUPAC No´s 28, 52, 101, 138, 153, 180) and on major
OCPs: dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and five of
its metabolites, aldrin, dieldrin, hexachlorobenzene
(HCB) and hexachlorocyclo-hexanes (α-, β- and γ-HCH).
Samples were derived from 448 spots distributed in a 16
km x 16 km raster over Germany. Sampling plots are
located in forests only. On each location, the O-horizon
(humic horizon) and the mineral top soil in the depths 0-5
cm and 5-10 cm were sampled.
At most sampling sites pollutant concentrations gradually
decrease with depth. Only few spots showed highest
concentrations in the upper mineral soil. The sum
concentration of 16 PAHs in the O-horizon range from
110 to ca. 13,000 µg / kg d.w. (median: ca. 1,500 µg / kg
d.w.). Relatively high concentrations are associated with
open cast mining of brown coal in the eastern part of
Germany, with mountainous regions and with
industrialized and urban areas. The PAH pattern is
mostly dominated by benzo(b)flouranthene, flouranthene
and chrysene. About 5% of the samples (all of them
derived from the eastern part of Germany) had enhanced
relative abundances of phenanthrene which is probably
induced by the vicinity to strip mining sites.
The concentration of ∑6 PCBs range from 1 to 96 µg / kg
d.w. (median: 13 µg / g d.w.) in the O-horizon. All
samples show similar PCB patterns with highlychlorinated
congeners as dominating compounds
(153>138>180), while lower chlorinated congeners occur
in traces only. Generally, there is a trend towards higher
concentrations in the western and north-western part of
Germany compared to the east and south-east. Peak
concentrations occur close to industrialized urban areas
such as the Ruhr Metropolitan Region.
In the O-horizon, the sum concentration of DDT and
metabolites range from