RESIDUARY TOXIC ELEMENTS AND PAHs IN SEDIMENTS OF THE ZBIORNIK GILOW TAILINGS POND AND ZIMMICA STREAM FROM LUBIN DISTRICT, SOUTHWEST POLAND YU-ZHUANG SUN 1∗ , A. LEISCHNER 2 and F.-J. GÖBBELS 3 1 Hebei Institute of Architectural Science and Technology, Handan, Hebei, P. R. China 2 Geotechnisches Büro, Bonn, Germany 3 Jülich, Germany ( ∗ author for correspondence, e-mail: sun_yz@hotmail.com; fax: 106-974-3646, present address: Basinand Reservoir Research Center, University of Petroleum, Beijing, Shuiku Road, Changping, Beijing, 102200, P. R. China.) Received 3 June 1999; accepted in revised form 17 August 2000 Abstract. Eight selected elements (As, Cd, Co, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr and Ni) were determined by in- ductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) in five samples from the tailings pond (Zbiornik Gilow) and waste water stream (Zimmica) in the Kupferschiefer mining district in Southwest Poland. Waste water from mining and concentration plants was discharged into Zbiornik Gilow pond for 30 years before 1989. Below Zbiornik Gilow the water flows through Zimmica stream, and then discharges into the River Odra. The analytic results indicate that the contamination of As, Cd, Co, Cu, Pb and Zn has spread out over 5 km, and the contamination by Ni and Cr extends for 1.5 km along the Zimmica stream although the stream has been abandoned since 1989. These ele- ments could still be toxic for plants, animals and humans. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined by GC and GC/MS. The results of the sediment samples show a contamination of PAHs only in trace contents. Key words: Kupferschiefer, tailings pond, toxic elements, waste water stream 1. Introduction The European Permian system contains in its basal Zechstein a black shale, so- called ‘Kupferschiefer’. The Polish Kupferschiefer is represented mainly by lam- inated clay shales rich in organic matter (Oszczepalski, 1989). It lies between the Rotliegendes volcanic-clastic and carbonate-evaporite sequences of Zechstein, and was deposited in a shallow, mud dominated stratified shelf sea. Sedimentation generally took place in a low energy anaerobic environment, implying anoxic- sulphidic early diagenesis. Sulphide mineralisation occurs in the basal Zechstein, principally in the Kupferschiefer black shale, and in the uppermost Rotliegendes sandstone (Oszczepalski, 1989). In several studies, the metal accumulation process has been attributed to a single- step event, which occurred during sedimentation (Wedepohl, 1971; Haranczyk, 1986). On the other hand, Vaughan et al. (1989) distinguished three stages of Kupferschiefer mineralisation. The first stage represents Kupferschiefer which was weakly mineralised during deposition of the sediment. The second stage is ob- Environmental Geochemistry and Health 22: 249–261, 2000. © 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.