FLOODING AREA AND SEDIMENT CONTAMINATION OF THE RIVER MULDE (GERMANY)WITH PCDD F AND OTHER ORGANIC POLLUTANTS/

About 300 sediment, top- and subsoil samples from cross-sectional and longitudinal profiles of the flooding area of the river Mulde and its tributaries were analyzed for PCDD/F, benzenehexachloride (Sigma of al pha-, beta-, gamma- and Delta-BHC) and DDX. Though the Bitterfeld regi on (Germany) turned out to be an important (former) emitter of these s ubstances, a considerable pre-contamination of the Mulde before it ent ers the Bitterfeld region with at least DDX and PCDD/F has to be taken into account. As sediment contamination partly reaches extreme values (ppm and higher), and as these contaminants can be remobilized into t he water, the risk of a secondary contamination of other sediments and flooding areas, especially the river Elbe, cannot be excluded.