Environmental Specimen Bank

The Fraunhofer IME has been one of the partners of the German Environmental Specimen Bank since the year 2000. On behalf of the German Federal Environmental Agency, we process annual samples to form homogenized specimens (cryogenic milling), operate the archive of the environmental specimen bank (cryogenic storage), and perform element and element-species analyses of environmental samples.

In the framework of the Environmental Specimen Bank program Fraunhofer IME also performs retrospective analyses to investigate archived samples for their content of currently relevant chemical substances. For example, this is a possibility to monitor the success of a substance ban by governmental agencies or of manufacturers’ voluntary restrictions on the use of a specific substance which should result in a decrease of the environmental concentrations of the banned chemical.

The results obtained in the monitoring studies are compiled in reports and, if approved by the sponsor, published in scientific journals. Examples are investigations on per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS; Göckener et al. 2022; Göckener et al. 2021) or cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes (cVMS; Radermacher et al. 2020).

Activities in committees

Dr. Bernd Göckener

Chair of the Working Group "Environmental Monitoring": GDCh (German Chemical Society), Division "Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology"

 

Video clips about working methods of the German Environmental Specimen Bank

The videos were produced on behalf of and funded by the Federal Environment Agency.

Preparation of specimens for archiving. (mp4)

Alternative clip as flv-file.

Storage in the environmental specimen bank. (mp4)

Alternative clip as flv-file.

Analysis of mercury in specimens of the environmental specimen bank. (mp4)

Alternative clip as flv-file.

Publications

Badry, A., Lämmer, R., Göckener, B., Koschorreck, J.

Pre-regulatory actions as a driver for reduced PFAS emissions? Long-term trends and change points for human and environmental samples from Germany

(2025) Environmental Sciences Europe. doi.org/10.1186/s12302-025-01124-7

 

Lennartz, S., Koschorreck, J., Göckener, B., Weinfurtner, K., Frohböse-Körner, A., Siemens, J., Balachandran, S., Glaeser, S.P., Mulder, I.

Downstream Effects of the Pandemic? Spatiotemporal Trends of Quaternary Ammonium Compounds in Suspended Particulate Matter of German Rivers

(2024) Journal of Hazardous Materials. doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.136237

 

Simon,F., Gehrenkemper,L., Becher,S., Dierkes,G., Langhammer,N., Cossmer,A., von der Au,M., Göckener,B., Fliedner,A., Rüdel,H., Koschorreck,J., Meermann,B.

Quantification and characterization of PFASs in suspended particulate matter (SPM) of German rivers using EOF, dTOPA, (non-)target HRMS

(2023) Science of The Total Environment. doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163753

 

Fliedner, A., Rüdel, H., Göckener, B., Krehenwinkel, H., Paulus, M., Koschorreck, J.

Environmental specimen banks and the European Green Deal

(2022) Science of The Total Environment. doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158430

 

Göckener B, Fliedner A, Rüdel H, Badry A, Koschorreck J (2022):

Long-Term Trends of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Suspended Particular Matter from German Rivers Using the Direct Total Oxidizable Precursor (dTOP) Assay.

Environ Sci Technol 56, 208-217; (doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c04165)

 

Yuan B, Rüdel H, de Wit CA, Koschorreck J (2022):

Identifying Emerging Environmental Concerns from Long-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins towards German Ecosystems.

J Hazard Mater 424, 127607, (doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127607)

 

Göckener, B., Fliedner, A., Rüdel, H., Fettig, I., Koschorreck, J.

Exploring unknown per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in the German environment – The total oxidizable precursor assay as helpful tool in research and regulation

(2021) Science of the Total Environment, 782, art. no. 146825, DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146825

 

Dreyer A, Neugebauer F, Lohmann N, Rüdel H, Tarricone K, Rauert C, Koschorreck J (2021):

Long-term trends of airborne halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) by means of tree leaf and shoot analyses.

Environ Pollut 287, 117342, (doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117342)

 

Yamakawa A, Amouroux D, Tessier E, Berail S, Fettig I, Barre JPG, Koschorreck J, Rüdel H, Donard OFX (2021):

Hg isotopic composition of one-year-old spruce shoots: Application to long-term Hg atmospheric monitoring in Germany.

Chemosphere 279, 130631, (doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130631)

 

Chaplow JS, Bond AL, Koschorreck J, Rüdel H, Shore RF (2021):

The role of environmental specimen banks in monitoring environmental contamination.

In: Johnson S (Hrsg.), Monitoring Environmental Contaminants. Amsterdam: Elsevier, doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-64335-3.00002-5

 

Radermacher G, Rüdel H, Wesch C, Böhnhardt A, Koschorreck J (2020):

Retrospective analysis of cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes in archived German fish samples covering a period of two decades.

Sci Total Environ 706, 136011, (doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136011)

 

Fliedner A, Rüdel H, Knopf B, Lohmann N, Paulus M, Jud M, Pirntke U, Koschorreck J (2018):

Assessment of seafood contamination under the marine strategy framework directive: contributions of the German environmental specimen bank.

Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 26939-26956

 

Kotthoff M, Rüdel H, Jürling H, Severin K, Hennecke S, Friesen A, Koschorreck J (2018):

First evidence of anticoagulant rodenticides in fish and suspended particulate matter: spatial and temporal distribution in German freshwater aquatic systems.

Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 7315-7325

 

Fliedner A, Rüdel H, Lohmann N, Buchmeier G, Koschorreck J (2018):

Biota monitoring under the Water Framework Directive: On tissue choice and fish species selection.

Environ Pollut 235, 129-140, (DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2017.12.052)