Energetic Compounds in the Trophic Chain—A Pilot Study Examining the Exposure Risk of Common Eiders ( Somateria mollissima ) to TNT, Its Metabolites, and By-Products

The Baltic and North Seas still contain large amounts of dumped munitions from both World Wars. The exposure of the munition shells to the seawater causes corrosion, which leads to the disintegration of shells and a leakage of energetic compounds, including the highly toxic 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TN...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Toxics
Main Authors: Luca Aroha Schick, Jennifer Susanne Strehse, Tobias Hartwig Bünning, Edmund Maser, Ursula Siebert
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022
Subjects:
dumped munitions
TNT toxicity
food chain
Common Eider
marine environment
Chemical technology
TP1-1185
Somateria mollissima
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics10110685
https://doaj.org/article/e1e2d2be8f084ea7829108e4b826ad2b
Description
Summary:The Baltic and North Seas still contain large amounts of dumped munitions from both World Wars. The exposure of the munition shells to the seawater causes corrosion, which leads to the disintegration of shells and a leakage of energetic compounds, including the highly toxic 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), and consequently threatening the marine environment. To evaluate the risk of accumulation of energetic compounds from conventional munitions in the marine food chain, we analyzed the presence of TNT and its metabolites 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene (2-ADNT) and 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene (4-ADNT) as well as their byproducts 1,3-dinitrobenzene (1,3-DNB) and 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT) in different tissues (including muscle, liver, kidney, brain, and bile) from 25 Common Eiders ( Somateria mollissima ) from the Danish Baltic Sea. Tissues were prepared according to approved protocols, followed by GC-MS/MS analysis. None of the aforementioned energetic compounds were detected in any of the samples. This pilot study is one of the first analyzing the presence of explosive chemicals in tissues from a free-ranging predatory species. This study highlights the need for continuous monitoring at different levels of the trophic chain to increase our knowledge on the distribution and possible accumulation of energetic compounds in the marine environment in order to provide reliable data for decision-making tools and risk assessments.

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