Daniel Zahn
Deputy Department Head
Contact / Address
Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ
Permoserstr. 15
DE-04318 Leipzig
Germany
Building 4.0, Room 218
Phone: 0341 235 4768
Research Topics
I am interested how the fate of anthropogenic chemicals in natural and technical systems modulates human and environmental exposure. To achieve this I combine laboratory experiments with field studies utilizing advanced analytical chemistry. Key areas of my work include:
- Development of trace-analytical methods for novel trace-contaminats (e.g. PMT chemicals, ultra-short chain PFAS, water-soluble polymers)
- Elucidation of biotic and abiotic transformation pathways
- Improved methodologies for the identification of potentially harmful transformation products and their precursors
- Environmental fate and occurrence of water-soluble polymers
Curriculum Vitae
| Since 2026 | Deputy Head of Department of Environmental Analytical Chemistry |
| Since 2022 | PostDoc, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department of Analytical Chemistry |
| 2019-2022 | PostDoc and Lecturer,University of Applied Science Fresenius |
| 2015-2019 | PhD in Chemistry at University of Applied Science Fresenius/University of Leipzig |
| 2013-2015 | Master Bio- and Pharmazeucial Analysis University of Applied Science Fresenius |
| 2008-2012 | Bachelor Chemical Technology, University of Applied Science Darmstadt |
Publications
Index:
You could use our publication index for further requests.
2026 (2)
- Fenner, K., Zahn, D., Jöhncke, U., Sigmund, G., Mayer, P., Hughes, C., Arp, H.P.H., Davenport, R.J., Kapanen, A., Reemtsma, T. (2026):
Persistence assessment of chemicals: Trajectories toward new approach methodologies (P-NAMs)
Environ. Sci. Technol. 60 (15), 11243 - 11252
10.1021/acs.est.6c00444 - Kuntz, V., Kamprad, N., Seiwert, B., Schaefer, T., Herrmann, H., Reemtsma, T., Zahn, D. (2026):
Simulated atmospheric transformation of the tire additives in the aqueous phase: 6-PPD, 6-PPD quinone, diphenylguanidine, and dicyclohexylamine
Environ. Pollut. 393 , art. 127682
10.1016/j.envpol.2026.127682
2025 (8)
- Dittmann, D., Görnt, A., Bauer, A., Seelig, A.H., Thalmann, M., Helmecke, M., Thor, J.H., Reynaert, E., Wilkes, T., Silalahi, J., Junghans, V., Zahn, D., Klitzke, S., Peters, A., Pfeifer, S., Förster, C., Hübner, N., Jekel, M., Reemtsma, T., Haberkamp, J., Ruhl, A.S. (2025):
Point-of-Use Re-Use (PU2R): a viable approach for sustainable decentralized reuse of water from single-household cesspits for agricultural irrigation
Water Reuse 15 (3), 458 - 474
10.2166/wrd.2025.029 - Görnt, A., Wilkes, T., Seelig, A., Sempert, T., Brasse, G., Maier, R., Zahn, D., Chang, H.-D., Reemtsma, T., Dittmann, D., Haberkamp, J., Reynaert, E., Ruhl, A.S. (2025):
Data for "Chemical and microbial similarities and heterogeneities of wastewater from single-household cesspits for decentralised water reuse" [Data set]
Zenodo
10.5281/zenodo.14731601 - Görnt, A., Wilkes, T., Seelig, A., Sempert, T., Brasse, G., Maier, R., Zahn, D., Chang, H.-D., Reemtsma, T., Dittmann, D., Haberkamp, J., Reynaert, E., Ruhl, A.S. (2025):
Chemical and microbial similarities and heterogeneities of wastewater from single-household cesspits for decentralised water reuse
Water Reuse 15 (2), 255 - 270
10.2166/wrd.2025.011 - Han, L., Seiwert, B., Lichtenwald, E., Weyrauch, S., Zahn, D., Reemtsma, T. (2025):
Biodegradation pathways and products of tire-related phenylenediamines and phenylenediamine quinones in solution – a laboratory study
Water Res. 286 , art. 124235
10.1016/j.watres.2025.124235 - Hasselder, P., Helmecke, M., Tiehm, A., Aumeier, B.M., Förster, C., Zahn, D., Ho, J., Stapf, M., Zacharias, N., Dockhorn, T., Miehe, U., Ruhl, A.S. (2025):
Complexity and challenges in agricultural water reuse monitoring from a German perspective
Water Reuse 15 (3), 439 - 457
10.2166/wrd.2025.026 - Seelig, A.H., Junghans, V., Reemtsma, T., Zahn, D. (2025):
Plant uptake of persistent and mobile chemicals in rocket (Eruca sativa)─A greenhouse study on agricultural wastewater reuse
Environ. Sci. Technol. 59 (18), 9265 - 9274
10.1021/acs.est.5c02379 - Zahn, D., Burkhardt, E.M., Scheller, A., Treu, G. (2025):
First evidence for the environmental occurrence of water-soluble polyquaternium polymers
Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 12 (10), 1432 - 1436
10.1021/acs.estlett.5c00880 - Zahn, D., Scheller, A., Reemtsma, T. (2025):
Analysis of polyquaternium compounds in environmental samples through non-target screening
Texte Umweltbundesamt 59/2025
Umweltbundesamt, Dessau-Roßlau, 37 pp.
10.60810/openumwelt-7742
2024 (9)
- Arp, H.P.H., Wolf, R., Hale, S.E., Baskaran, S., Glüge, J., Scheringer, M., Trier, X., Cousins, I.T., Timmer, H., Hofman-Caris, R., Lennquist, A., Bannink, A.D., Stroomberg, G.J., Sjerps, R.M.A., Montes, R., Rodil, R., Quintana, J.B., Zahn, D., Gallard, H., Mohr, T., Schliebner, I., Neumann, M. (2024):
Letter to the editor regarding Collard et al. (2023): “Persistence and mobility (defined as organic-carbon partitioning) do not correlate to the detection of substances found in surface and groundwater: Criticism of the regulatory concept of persistent and mobile substances”
Sci. Total Environ. 906 , art. 165927
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165927 - Dittmann, D., Seelig, A.H., Thalmann, M., Wilkes, T., Junghans, V., Zahn, D., Klitzke, S., Peters, A., Haberkamp, J., Reemtsma, T., Ruhl, A.S. (2024):
Potential and risks of water reuse in Brandenburg (Germany) – an interdisciplinary case study
Water Reuse 14 (1), 1 - 15
10.2166/wrd.2024.081 - Foscari, A., Seiwert, B., Zahn, D., Schmidt, M., Reemtsma, T. (2024):
Leaching of tire particles and simultaneous biodegradation of leachables
Water Res. 253 , art. 121322
10.1016/j.watres.2024.121322 - Joerss, H., Freeling, F., van Leeuwen, S., Hollender, J., Liu, X., Nödler, K., Wang, Z., Yu, B., Zahn, D., Sigmund, G. (2024):
Pesticides can be a substantial source of trifluoroacetate (TFA) to water resources
Environ. Int. 193 , art. 109061
10.1016/j.envint.2024.109061 - Joerss, H., Freeling, F., van Leeuwen, S., Hollender, J., Liu, X., Nödler, K., Wang, Z., Yu, B., Zahn, D., Sigmund, G. (2024):
Corrigendum to “Pesticides can be a substantial source of trifluoroacetate (TFA) to water resources” [Environ. Inter. 193 (2024) 109061]
Environ. Int. 194 , art. 109198
10.1016/j.envint.2024.109198 - Kuntz, V., Zahn, D., Reemtsma, T. (2024):
Quantification and occurrence of 39 tire-related chemicals in urban and rural aerosol from Saxony, Germany
Environ. Int. 194 , art. 109189
10.1016/j.envint.2024.109189 - Muschket, M., Neuwald, I.J., Zahn, D., Seelig, A.H., Kuckelkorn, J., Knepper, T.P., Reemtsma, T. (2024):
Fate of persistent and mobile chemicals in the water cycle: From municipal wastewater discharges to river bank filtrate
Water Res. 266 , art. 122436
10.1016/j.watres.2024.122436 - Seelig, A.H., Zahn, D., Reemtsma, T. (2024):
Sources of persistent and mobile chemicals in municipal wastewater: a sewer perspective in Leipzig, Germany
Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res.
10.1007/s11356-024-33259-0 - Zahn, D., Arp, H.P.H., Fenner, K., Georgi, A., Hafner, J., Hale, S.E., Hollender, J., Letzel, T., Schymanski, E.L., Sigmund, G., Reemtsma, T. (2024):
Should transformation products change the way we manage chemicals?
Environ. Sci. Technol. 58 (18), 7710 - 7718
10.1021/acs.est.4c00125
2023 (4)
- Muschket, M., Zahn, D., Neuwald, I., Knepper, T., Schumann, P., Rabe, L., Ruhl, A.S., Jekel, M., Kuckelkorn, J., Schnitzer, G., Schulze, H., Dölchow, U., Fink, A., Reemtsma, T. (2023):
Persistente mobile organische Chemikalien in der aquatischen Umwelt: Quellen, Vorkommen und technische Möglichkeiten zu ihrer Entfernung in der Trinkwasseraufbereitung (PROTECT) - Schlussbericht
Zenodo
10.5281/zenodo.7683983 - Muschket, M., Zahn, D., Neuwald, I., Knepper, T., Schumann, P., Rabe, L., Ruhl, A.S., Kuckelkorn, J., Jekel, M., Reemtsma, T. (2023):
Persistente und mobile Stoffe im Wasserkreislauf – Erkenntnisse des PROTECT-Projekts
Vom Wasser 121 (3), 74 - 77
10.1002/vomw.202300012 - Neuwald, I.J., Muschket, M., Seelig, A.H., Sauter, D., Gnirss, R., Knepper, T.P., Reemtsma, T., Zahn, D. (2023):
Efficacy of activated carbon filtration and ozonation to remove persistent and mobile substances – A case study in two wastewater treatment plants
Sci. Total Environ. 886 , art. 163921
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163921 - Pauelsen, F., Huppertsberg, S., Knepper, T.P., Zahn, D. (2023):
Narrowing the analytical gap for water-soluble polymers: A novel trace-analytical method and first quantitative occurrence data for polyethylene oxide in surface and wastewater
Sci. Total Environ. 882 , art. 163563
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163563
2022 (4)
- Gollong, G., Neuwald, I.J., Kuckelkorn, J., Junek, R., Zahn, D. (2022):
Assessing the protection gap for mobile and persistent chemicals during advanced water treatment – A study in a drinking water production and wastewater treatment plant
Water Res. 221 , art. 118847
10.1016/j.watres.2022.118847 - Neuwald, I.J., Hübner, D., Wiegand, H.L., Valkov, V., Borchers, U., Nödler, K., Scheurer, M., Hale, S.E., Arp, H.P.H., Zahn, D. (2022):
Ultra-short-chain PFASs in the sources of German drinking water: Prevalent, overlooked, difficult to remove, and unregulated
Environ. Sci. Technol. 56 (10), 6380 - 6390
10.1021/acs.est.1c07949 - Neuwald, I.J., Hübner, D., Wiegand, H.L., Valkov, V., Borchers, U., Nödler, K., Scheurer, M., Hale, S.E., Arp, H.P.H., Zahn, D. (2022):
Occurrence, distribution, and environmental behavior of persistent, mobile, and toxic (PMT) and very persistent and very mobile (vPvM) substances in the sources of German drinking water
Environ. Sci. Technol. 56 (15), 10857 - 10867
10.1021/acs.est.2c03659 - Neuwald, I.J., Hübner, D., Wiegand, L., Valkov, V., Borchers, U., Nödler, K., Scheurer, M., Hale, S.E., Arp, H.P.H., Zahn, D. (2022):
Ultra-short chain PFAS in the sources of German drinking water: prevalent, overlooked, difficult to remove, and unregulated
Vom Wasser 120 (4), 97 - 100
10.1002/vomw.202200018
Publication without UFZ-affiliation
2023
I. J. Neuwald, M. Muschket, A. H. Seelig, D. Sauter, R. Gnirss, T. P. Knepper, T. Reemtsma, D. Zahn: Efficacy of activated carbon filtration and ozonation to remove persistent and mobile substances – A case study in two wastewater treatment plants, Science of the Total Environment, 2023, 886, 163921https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163921
F. Pauelsen, S. Huppertsberg, T. P. Knepper, D. Zahn: Narrowing the analytical gap for water-soluble polymers: A novel trace-analytical method and first quantitative occurrence data for polyethylene oxide in surface and wastewater, Science of the Total Environment, 2023, 882, 163563
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163563
2022
I. J. Neuwald, D. Hübner, H. L. Wiegand, V. Valkov, U. Borchers, K. Nödler, M. Scheurer, S. E. Hale, H. P. H. Arp, D. Zahn: Occurrence, Distribution, and Environmental Behavior of Persistent, Mobile, and Toxic (PMT) and very Persistent and very Mobile (vPvM) Substances in the Sources of German Drinking Water, Environmental Science and Technology, 2022, 56, 10857-10867https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c03659
G. Gollong, I. J. Neuwald, J. Kuckelkorn, R. Junek, D. Zahn: Assessing the protection gap for mobile and persistent chemicals during advanced water treatment - A study in a drinking water production and wastewater treatment plant, Water Research, 2022, 221, 118847
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2022.118847
I. J. Neuwald, D. Hübner, H. L. Wiegand, V. Valkov, U. Borchers, K. Nödler, M. Scheurer, S. E. Hale, H. P. H. Arp, D. Zahn: Ultra-short-chain PFASs in the Sources of German Drinking Water: Prevalent, overlooked, difficult to remove, and unregulated, Environmental Science and Technology, 2022, 56, 6380-6390
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c07949
K. Müller, D. Hübner, S. Huppertsberg, T. P. Knepper, D. Zahn: Probing the chemical complexity of tires: Identification of potential tire-borne water contaminants with high-resolution mass spectrometry, Science of the Total Environment, 2022, 802, 149799
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149799
2021
I. J. Neuwald, M. Muschket, D. Zahn, U. Berger, B. Seiwert, T. Meier, J. Kuckelkron, C. Strobel, T. P. Knepper, T. Reemtsma: Filling the knowledge gap: A suspect screening study for 1300 potentially persistent and mobile chemicals with SFC- and HILIC-HRMS in two German river systems, Water Research, 2021, 204, 117645https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2021.117645
P. Hehet, N. Köke, D. Zahn, T. Frömel, T. Rößler, T. P. Knepper, M. Pütz: Synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists and their human metabolites in sewage water: Stability assessment and identification of transformation products, Drug Testing and Analysis, 2021, 13, 1758
https://doi.org/10.1002/dta.3129
2020
D. Zahn, T. Frömel: Finding a needle in a haystack – analyte-driven tools and techniques for information extraction and prioritization of chemicals from environmental (chromatography-)HRMS nontarget screening data, Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health, 2020, 18, 70-78https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coesh.2020.09.005
S. Huppertsberg, D. Zahn, F. Pauelsen, T. Reemtsma, T. P. Knepper: Making waves: Water-soluable polymers in the aquatic environment: an overlooked class of synthetic polymers?, Water Research, 2020, 181, 115931
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2020.115931
I. J. Neuwald, D. Zahn, T. P. Knepper: Are (fluorinated) ionic liquids relevant environmental contaminants? High-resolution mass spectrometric screening for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in environmental water samples led to the detection of a fluorinated ionic liquid, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2020, 412, 4881-4892
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-020-02606-8
K. Müller, D. Zahn, T. Frömel, T. P. Knepper: Matrix effects in the analysis of polar organic water contaminants with HILIC-ESI-MS, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2020, 412, 4867-4879
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-020-02548-1
D. Zahn, I. J. Neuwald, T. P. Knepper: Analysis of mobile chemicals in the aquatic environment – current capabilities, limitations, and future perspectives, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2020, 412, 4763-4784
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-020-02520-z
2019
D. Zahn, R. Meusinger, T. Frömel, T. P. Knepper: Halomethanesulfonic acids – a new class of polar disinfection byproducts: standard synthesis, occurrence, and indirect assessment of mitigation options, Environmental Science and Technology, 2019, 53, 8994-9002https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b03016
S. Schulze, D. Zahn, R. Montes, R. Rodil, J. Quintana, T. P. Knepper, T. Reemtsma, U. Berger: Occurrence of emerging persistent and mobile organic contaminants in European water samples, Water Research, 2019, 153, 80-90
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2019.01.008
D. Zahn, P. Mucha, V. Zilles, A. Touffet, H. Gallard, T. P. Knepper, T. Frömel: Identification of mobile and persistent transformation products of REACH-registered chemicals and their occurrence in surface waters, Water Research, 2019, 150, 86-96
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2018.11.042
2018
N. Köke, D. Zahn, T. P. Knepper, T. Frömel: Multi-layer solid-phase extraction and evaporation – enrichment methods for polar organic chemicals from aqueous matrices, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2018, 410, 2403-2411https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-018-0921-1
2016
D. Zahn, T. Frömel, T. P. Knepper: Halogenated methanesulfonic acids: A new class of organic micropollutants in the water cycle, Water Research, 2016, 101, 292-299https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.05.082