Sabine Heim

Occurrence and alteration of organic contaminants in seepage and leakage water from a waste deposit landfill

Organic-geochemical analyses have been applied to seepage water and leakage water samples of a waste deposit landfill in order to give a comprehensive view on the composition of the organic contaminants. Based on intense GC/MS screening analyses a wide variety of organic substances were identified and attributed to natural or xenobiotic waste components. Apart from plant material-derived compounds and degradation products of peptides, carbohydrates and lignin, numerous xenobiotic substances were identified and attributed to the groups of pharmaceuticals, plasticizers, pesticides or chlorinated aromatics. Not all of the substances identified in the seepage water samples were recovered in the leakage water sample due to degradation processes or dilution by uncontaminated water. Quantitative analysis of selected contaminants was used to discriminate substances affected by degradation processes and persistent compounds.

Pollution history revealed by sedimentary records: a review

This overview focuses on geochemical and geochronological investigations on dated sediment profiles, used for the evaluation of the inventory and fate of persistent pollutants within the aquatic environment over time and space. It includes a short description of the spectrum of sediment contaminants such as heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), pesticides, pharmaceuticals or personal care products, of the contamination sources and pathways, the prerequisites of the analytical approach as well as numerous case studies worldwide. The aim of the review was to summarise the current knowledge related to the historical input of organic and inorganic sediment contaminants into marine, limnic and fluvial sediment archives, their general contamination trends referring to the increase in sediment contamination during the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century as well as source-specific trends of modern or present-day contaminants since the last four decades. Based on the available literature, it demonstrates the benefit of using correlated chronological and geochemical investigations as a tool for the evaluation of the chemical status and risk assessment of pollutants in aquatic sediment archives over long time intervals, for instance since urbanisation and industrialisation started.

Determination of 13C/12C-ratios of anthropogenic organic contaminants in river water samples by GC-irmMS

This study describes the application of a common analytical procedure adapted for compound-specific stable carbon isotope analyses of riverine contaminants. To evaluate the sensitivity of the analytical method and the precision of the isotopic data obtained, a set of numerous substances at different concentration levels were measured. For most of the anthropogenic contaminants investigated (including chlorinated aliphatics and aromatics, musk fragrances, phthalate-based plasticizers and tetrabutyl tin) acceptable carbon isotope analyses could be obtained down to amounts of approximately 5 ng absolutely applied to the gas chromatograph. These amounts correspond to concentrations in water samples at a natural abundance level of approximately 50–200 ng L−1 (low to medium contaminated river systems). However, it has to be considered that the precision and the sensitivity of the analytical method depend partially on the chemical properties of the substances measured. Five recovery experiments were conducted to assess changes in carbon isotope ratios during sample preparation and measurement. The compounds selected for these experiments are known riverine contaminants. Isotopic shifts or higher variations of the isotope ratios as a result of the analytical procedures applied were observed only for a couple of contaminants. Furthermore, compound-specific carbon isotope analyses were performed on eight water extracts of the Rhine river. By comparing the variation of the data of several individual compounds with the deviations obtained from the recovery experiments, it was possible to differentiate contaminants with unaffected isotope ratios and substances with significant alterations of the δ13C-values.

Geochronology of Anthropogenic Contaminants in Aquatic Sediment Archives

Sediment archives are mind of aquatic systems.We report historical trends of marine, limnic and fluvial sediment contamination. Over the last four decades, the increasing problems of environmental contamination induced a growing interest in the fate and sources of pollution. Environmental contaminants emitted by human activities can be stored ultimately in sediments which act under these circumstances as a sink. In this context, historical monitoring studies of aquatic sediment archives are used to assess the extent and effect of human inputs in the past towards the present. This review gives a summary of the available literature concerning definitive time trends of the contamination load determined in estuarine, fluvial and limnic sedimentary archives. It gathers information about main input sources and contamination pathways as well as the spectrum of anthropogenic contaminants in aquatic sediment deposits. In addition, special chapters point to (i) the prerequisites of the methodical approach, (ii) the spectrum of sediment contaminants, (iii) suitable sedimentary archives as well as (iv) the standard methods of sediment dating. Finally, this review highlights representative studies on pollution histories exemplifying the potential of geochronological investigations on common and modern pollutants.