Atmospheric As, Cd, Pb, and Zn emissions from coal combustion in the Upper Oder River Basin (Poland) have been estimated for the period 1989-1992. The main power and heating plants achieved reductions of more than 40% while energy production remained unchanged, Power plants equipped with stoker-fired boilers or incorporated in industrial plants were relatively heavy polluters per unit of output energy. The largest sources of metals emissions were individual stoves.