Institute of Toxicology and Pharmacology for Natural Scientists, University Medical School Schleswig-Holstein, Brunswiker Str. 10, 24105, Kiel, Germany.
Arch Toxicol. 2024 Nov;98(11):3825-3836. doi: 10.1007/s00204-024-03834-y. Epub 2024 Aug 19.
Seas worldwide are threatened by an emerging source of pollution as millions of tons of warfare materials were dumped after the World Wars. As their metal shells are progressively corroding, energetic compounds (EC) leak out and distribute in the marine environment. EC are taken up by aquatic organisms and pose a threat to both the marine ecosphere and the human seafood consumer because of their toxicity and potential carcinogenicity. Here, sediment samples and fish from different locations in the German North Sea of Lower Saxony were examined to determine whether EC transfer to fish living close to munition dumping areas. EC were found in sediments with a maximum concentration of 1.5 ng/kg. All analyzed fish muscle tissues/fillets and bile samples were positive for EC detection. In bile, the max. EC concentrations ranged between 0.25 and 1.25 ng/mL. Interestingly, while detected TNT metabolites in the muscle tissues were in concentrations of max. 1 ng/g (dry weight), TNT itself was found in concentrations of up to 4 ng/g (dry weight). As we found considerable higher amounts of non-metabolized TNT in the fish muscle, rather than TNT metabolites, we conclude an additional absorption route of EC into fish other than per diet. This is the first study to detect EC in the edible parts of fish caught randomly in the North Sea.
全球海洋正受到一种新的污染源的威胁，因为在两次世界大战后，数百万吨的战争物资被倾倒。随着它们的金属外壳逐渐腐蚀，高能化合物 (EC) 泄漏并分布在海洋环境中。EC 被水生生物吸收，由于其毒性和潜在的致癌性，对海洋生态系统和人类海鲜消费者构成威胁。在这里，对来自下萨克森州德国北海不同地点的沉积物样本和鱼类进行了检查，以确定 EC 是否转移到靠近弹药倾倒区的鱼类身上。在沉积物中发现了 EC，其最大浓度为 1.5ng/kg。所有分析的鱼肌肉组织/鱼片和胆汁样本均对 EC 检测呈阳性。在胆汁中，EC 的最大浓度范围在 0.25 至 1.25ng/mL 之间。有趣的是，虽然肌肉组织中检测到的 TNT 代谢物浓度最高可达 1ng/g（干重），但 TNT 本身的浓度高达 4ng/g（干重）。由于我们在鱼肌肉中发现了相当高浓度的未代谢的 TNT，而不是 TNT 代谢物，因此我们得出结论，EC 进入鱼类的另一种途径是除了通过饮食之外的途径。这是首次在北海鲜鱼的可食用部分中检测到 EC 的研究。
