Unlike DDT, for which the ban in the 1970s led to rapidly declining applications, HCH remained an important plant protection product in the GDR until the state's end in 1990. Though a negative trend in the number of licensed products occurred, HCH was produced and used intensively in many fields of the GDR (e.g. agriculture, forest, hygiene, material protection, private), which led to highly contaminated agricultural soils . Nevertheless, no HCH was found in the current study. This is probably due to its physico-chemical properties ) which influence its overall persistence. This is in line with the study of who examined the dissipation of HCH in Lake Superior, Canada. Between 1986 and 2016 concentrations declined by more than 90%. The authors identified volatilization as main removal process, followed by (hydrolytic and microbial) degradation and outflow through the draining river. Sedimentation was deemed minor.