Economic upheaval in 1990-93 and the ecological situation in central Germany

German reunification in 1990 resulted in economic and social upheavals in a ll of the newly-formed German states. One typical example is the Leipzig-Ha lle-Bitterfeld region, where many of the industrial plants were fully or pa rtly demolished for economic and technical reasons. Additionally, changes i n the political climate led to the closure of a number of major military ba ses. Despite generally improved environmental standards, dismantling was so metimes accompanied by substantial emissions of chlorinated insecticides an d other persistent organic pollutants, as is highlighted for the first time in the present paper. Our analyses are based on a regional biomonitoring n et covering 7500 km(2) in the Leipzig-Halle-Bitterfeld area during the time period 1990-93. The results enable increased concentrations of airborne co ntaminants to be attributed to processes linked to the economic upheaval of this time. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.