TY - JOUR A1 - Aichner, Bernhard A1 - Bussian, B. A1 - Lehnik-Habrink, Petra A1 - Hein, Sebastian T1 - Regionalized concentrations and fingerprints of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in german forest soils N2 - Samples of 474 forest stands in Germany were analysed for concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in three sampling depths. Enhanced concentrations were mainly found at spots relatively close to densely industrialized and urbanized regions and at some topographically elevated areas. Average enrichment factors between mineral soil and humic layer depend on humus type i.e. decrease from mull via moder to mor. Based on their compound-patterns, the observed samples could be assigned to three main clusters. For some parts of our study area a uniform assignment of samples to clusters over larger regions could be identified. For instance, samples taken at vicinity to brown-coal strip-mining districts are characterized by high relative abundances of low-molecular-weight PAHs. These results suggest that PAHs are more likely originated from local and regional emitters rather than from long-range transport and that specific source-regions can be identified based on PAH fingerprints. KW - Organic pollutants KW - PAHs KW - Soil KW - Emissions KW - Long-range transport KW - Enrichment factor KW - Humic layer KW - Mineral soils KW - O-horizon PY - 2015 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2015.03.026 SN - 0269-7491 SN - 0013-9327 SN - 1873-6424 VL - 203 SP - 31 EP - 39 PB - Elsevier Ltd. CY - New York, NY [u.a.] AN - OPUS4-34792 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aichner, Bernhard A1 - Bussian, B. A1 - Lehnik-Habrink, Petra A1 - Hein, Sebastian T1 - Levels and spatial distribution of persistent organic pollutants in the environment: a case study of German forest soils N2 - The Of/Oh-horizons of 447 forest stands in Germany were evaluated for concentrations and spatial distribution of selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). While concentrations of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and PCBs show similar spatial distribution patterns for all measured compounds within each compound class, significantly different distributions were identified for concentrations of low-molecular-weight PAHs [2- and 3-ring PAHs plus fluoranthene (FLA) and pyrene (PYR)] in contrast to high-molecular-weight PAHs (4–6-ring PAHs without FLA and PYR). Maxima of persistent organic pollutant (POP) concentrations could be mostly explained by specific locatable sources. Because of the slow degradation rates of these target substances, this is especially relevant for historic contamination sources, such as extensive 1980s DDT usage in the former German Democratic Republic and industrial facilities that produced hexachlorobenzene (HCB) or PCBs. A contribution of ubiquitous background pollution derived from long-range atmospheric transport is likely for some compounds in the studied area, e.g., DDT in the western part of Germany and dieldrin. However, most target compounds appear to be mainly sourced from local or regional emissions. This is supported by the absence of clear dependencies between POP concentrations and most evaluated environmental and local parameters. We suggest that these results generally reflect the distribution of POPs in densely populated and industrialized countries located in temperate regions. KW - PAHs KW - PCBs KW - OCPs KW - DDT KW - HCB KW - Dieldrin KW - TOC KW - pH KW - Humus KW - O-horizon PY - 2013 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/es4019833 SN - 0013-936X SN - 1520-5851 VL - 47 IS - 22 SP - 12703 EP - 12714 PB - ACS Publ. CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-30064 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -