The two world wars have left a toxic legacy in the oceans, which emerges as a new environmental problem. There are several thousand war wrecks around the world that are still partially or fully loaded with munitions. This issue is common in the waters of the North Sea. Decades of exposure to a saline environment promoted the corrosion of ship hulls and munition casings, allowing the munition compounds to be released. Many of these chemical compounds, especially the most significant explosive in quantity, 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, better known as TNT, are toxic and threaten the marine environment and its organisms. While most studies on biological effects work with very high concentrations not found in the environment, this study focuses on field trials. To investigate the risk to the environment from wrecks loaded with munitions, experiments were carried out with blue mussels, Mytilus edulis, on three wrecks in the North Sea. Mussels were exposed in cages on shipwrecks for several weeks and examined for changes in the enzyme activity involved in detoxification processes, such as the Antioxidant-Defense System, and changes in the accumulation of metabolites. Significant differences can be seen in the activity of the enzymes involved in detoxification processes. There are different rates of accumulation of metabolic end products in the lysosomes of the mussel digestive gland, indicating negative impacts emanating from munitions-laden wrecks. The findings from the cage experiments underline the need for monitoring munitions remains and polluting shipwrecks in the oceans in the future to find the most effective solution for marine ecosystems worldwide.

Unexploded ordnance from World Wars I and II continues to release 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene into marine sediments, yet microbial responses to this chronic contamination remain poorly understood. Here, we characterize the taxonomic and functional potential of sediment microbiomes at the historical submarine wreck UC-30 in the North Sea, combining 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, shotgun metagenomics, and targeted GC-MS/MS analysis with a parallel aerobic laboratory enrichment. Minewell sediments showed distinct community shifts, with enrichment of Proteobacteria, notably Haliaceae and Rhodobacteraceae, alongside increased representation of oxidoreductases and stress-related enzyme classes, including glutathione S-transferases. Genes associated with TNT transformation, including Old Yellow Enzymes and nitroreductases, were modestly enriched in situ. The laboratory enrichment confirmed TNT removal and presence of N-ethylmaleimide reductase, an Old Yellow Enzyme implicated in TNT transformation. Functional and taxonomic parallels between field and enrichment communities indicate shared adaptive capacities under TNT exposure, positioning contaminated marine microbiomes as reservoirs of bioremediation potential. Long-term TNT exposure at historical shipwrecks can influence sediment microbial communities, according to combined wreck sampling from the North Sea and laboratory incubation tests.

Dumped conventional munitions are a problem in many marine environments worldwide. Trinitrotoluene (TNT) is one of the most abundant explosives in dumped munitions and known for its toxicity. Due to progressing corrosion of munition shells, TNT is leaking into the environment and is detected in environmental samples (water, sediments, biota). A major concern is how fish, as fundamental part of aquatic environments and important source for human nutrition, are affected by TNT. We therefore employed three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) as a model organism, to test how fish respond to exposure with environmentally relevant concentrations of TNT. Sticklebacks were exposed to sublethal concentrations of TNT (100 µg/l) for three months to simulate the conditions at the German munition dump site Kolberger Heide. As an additional stressor, a temperature increase (16 °C → 20 °C) was applied, to simulate the effects of climate change and induce a stress-on-stress response. Mortality, growth, physiological, and head kidney immune parameters of the sticklebacks were recorded and analysed after exposure. As a result, the mortality of fish was not increased by TNT and physiological parameters were not significantly changed by TNT, except for an increase in the female gonadosomatic index. Of the immune parameters, proportion of neutrophils in head kidney leukocytes and oxidative burst activity were significantly increased by TNT, while proportions of lymphocytes were significantly decreased. The increase in oxidative burst activity, as well as the increased gonadosomatic index of female fish, possibly present hormetic effects.

Toxic explosives leaking from submerged munitions appear as an emerging marine pollutant in recent years. The nitroaromatic compound 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) is of particular interest in this context. TNT poses a threat to marine environments and organisms. Previous studies showed that TNT and its metabolites are incorporated in mussel tissue thereby causing adverse effects through cellular oxidative stress. Recently, the impact of TNT on mRNA expression of the enzyme carbonyl reductase (CR) in blue mussels was discovered. This enzyme plays a key part in the cellular antioxidative system. A factor that should be taken into account is the increase in water temperature caused by anthropogenic climate change. To investigate potential synergistic effects of TNT in combination with elevated water temperatures on CR expression, blue mussels were exposed to concentrations of 0.1 µg/L, 50 µg/L, and 500 µg/L TNT and water temperatures of 11 °C, 15 °C and 18 °C, respectively, in the present study. Semiquantitative PCR analysis of CR mRNA expression in different tissues confirmed that TNT leads to increased mRNA expression levels, especially in gill tissue even at lower concentrations than tested in previous studies. Furthermore, varying water temperatures apparently influenced CR gene expression. Our study suggests a higher vulnerability to xenobiotic-induced oxidative stress in case of simultaneous presence of pollution from munitions and elevated water temperature. Our findings also underline the importance of molecular biomarkers like CR as a method for assessment of the impact of environmental stressors on the marine ecosphere.

Abstract Anthropogenic and natural processes contribute to the distribution of arsenic in the environment. Soluble trivalent arsenic compounds are highly toxic, and some arsenic species are known human carcinogens. Data were retrieved from Germany’s marine environmental database (Meeresumweltdatenbank) to illustrate the distribution of concentrations, identify potential hotspots, and show trends over time. We investigated total arsenic concentrations in water, sediment, and blue mussels in German coastal waters with a focus on anthropogenic pollution caused by submerged military munitions. Here, we show that a general upward trend in arsenic concentrations in water and blue mussels can be seen over the last 10–20 years. However, German environmental quality standards are not exceeded. Elevated arsenic concentrations were not observed in relation to proximity to known dump sites of conventional munitions or to the coast. Concentrations in the North Sea were higher in comparison to samples from the Baltic Sea, but similar to those globally.

Explosives released by dumped warfare material pose a threat to the marine environment and can enter the marine food web. 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) is one of the most used explosives in munitions and is, therefore, of special interest. To test the uptake, depuration, and potential biotransformation of TNT, common blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) from the German North Sea were exposed to different TNT concentrations in two laboratory experiments (first experiment, 48-h exposure to TNT concentrations of 0, 0.625, 1.25, and 2.5 mg/L; second experiment, 24-h exposure to 0 and 5 mg/L deuterated TNT) followed by recovery phases in clean artificial seawater (first experiment, 60-h recovery; second experiment, 12-h recovery). Water samples and mussel soft bodies were analyzed for TNT and its metabolites 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene (2-ADNT), 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene (4-ADNT), and 2,4-diamino-6-nitrotoluene (2,4-DANT) using Gas Chromatography – Tandem Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) techniques. The results showed a continuous uptake of dissolved TNT during exposure and a rapid depuration during the recovery phase, independent of the original TNT exposure concentrations. Furthermore, evidence for the biotransformation of TNT is shown by the presence of labelled ADNTs both in mussel soft bodies analyzed within the recovery phase and in water sampled during the recovery phase. Overall, 57% to 76% of the measured concentration was biotransformed within the first 4 h after the exposure.

In the Bay of Luebeck, two out of several munition dumping areas in the German Baltic Sea are located, where approximately 65,000 t of munitions were dumped in the post-World War II period. The explosives used in these munitions, such as the nitroaromatic compound 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and its metabolic transformation products 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene (4-ADNT) and 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene, (2-ADNT) are considered mutagenic and carcinogenic and pose a potential threat to marine ecology and human health when they leak from corroding shells into the surrounding water. A 4-year pilot monitoring program, conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment of Schleswig–Holstein, aimed to assess the current contamination level of the Bay of Luebeck’s waters with various energetic compounds (EC) from dumped munitions and to evaluate the feasibility of integrating these investigations into the monthly routine sampling program of Schleswig–Holstein's coastal waters. This routine water sampling was expanded by direct monitoring of specific munition dumping sites in the Bay of Luebeck. Beyond repeated water samples, these specific dumping areas were long term monitored by using blue mussels and passive sampler systems which both are ideal approaches to infer whether these compounds are entering marine ecosystems such as in the Bay of Luebeck. In all water samples from the routine program collected monthly at four locations from the seabed and surface, TNT and six other EC were detected. However, only 1,3-dinitrobenzene (1,3-DNB), 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT), and 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) were measured at average concentrations exceeding 1 ng/L. As expected, TNT water concentrations at the specific dumping arears were slightly higher (by a factor of 2–4) compared to the routine monitoring sites. At the same locations, EC were detected in a few individual blue mussel samples, with all concentrations remaining below 0.6 ng/g dry weight. EC concentrations in the passive samplers were in the one or two-digit nanogram range per passive sampler, except for 1,3-DNB which reached up to 105 ng per passive sampler. As a conclusion, over the course of the last 3 years, it became apparent that EC are ubiquitous distributed in the Bay of Luebeck, but their concentrations are still relatively low, even in both specific dumping areas.

It has long been suspected that organoarsenic chemical warfare agents dumped into the oceans lead to an increase in environmental arsenic concentrations in both the North- and Baltic Seas. Soluble trivalent arsenic compounds are highly toxic and some arsenic species are known human carcinogens. Here we show that elevated arsenic concentrations were not observed in relation to proximity to known dump sites of conventional munition, chemical warfare agents or to the coast. We investigated arsenic concentrations in water, sediment and blue mussels with a focus on anthropogenic pollution caused by submerged military munitions. Data were retrieved from the marine environmental database MUDAB. Arsenic concentrations in the North Sea were higher in comparison to samples from the Baltic Sea, but similar to those in other countries. German environmental quality standards are not exceeded. However, a general upward trend in arsenic concentrations can be seen over the last 10–20 years.

As one of the azo dyes, Congo red (CR) is widely used in the garment industry, posing significant environmental and health risks. In this study, Buttiauxella sp. S19-1 was selected for the efficient decolorization of CR. The optimal decolorization conditions were determined to be the anaerobic culture at 100 mg/L, with pH 5.0, and 27 °C for 30 h, achieving a decolorization efficiency of 89.6 %. Prokaryotic transcriptome analysis revealed a significantly up-regulated gene encoding a metal-dependent hydrolase in Buttiauxella sp. (BuMdeH) during biodegradation of CR, with zinc ions identified as the essential metal ion. The S19-1 mutant lacking the BuMdeH gene (S-∆M) showed a 1.42-fold decrease in decolorization efficiency compared to S19-1. In contrast, the Escherichia coli (E. coli) expressing BuMdeH (E-M) exhibited a 2.8-fold increase compared to E. coli. The recombinant BuMdeH protein (rBuMdeH) was purified, displaying a specific activity (with Zn2 +) of 1.10 ± 0.02 μmol/min·mg. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis identified [1,1'-biphenyl]-4-amine and 1-naphthylamine as the metabolites of CR, which significantly decreased the toxicity following degradation by rBuMdeH. The results implied that MdeH played a pivotal role in the catalytic degradation of CR by strain S19-1 through a novel pathway, which proposed a sustainable bioremediation strategy for CR-contaminated wastewater.

The environmental risks associated with dumped munitions, unexploded ordnance (UXO) and sunken war ships is gaining more and more attention nowadays, since these warfare materials may start leaking, posing a threat to marine wildlife. This study aims to assess the effects of pollution by explosives for marine fauna associated with sunken war ships still loaded with munitions at the time of sinking. For this purpose, transplanted blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and passive samplers were exposed for several weeks on two WWII warship wrecks (HMS Basilisk and V1302, formerly named John Mahn) to detect leakage of explosives and to characterize the effects of those substances on mussel health. In addition, fish (Trisopterus luscus) dwelling at V1302 were caught and investigated following the same approach as used with the mussels. The hazardous potential of dissolved explosives was assessed using multi-biomarker analysis, which includes the enzyme activity of catalase (CAT), glutathione S-transferase (GST) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE), as well as histochemical biomarkers like lysosomal membrane stability (LMS), lipofuscin (LIPF), neutral lipids (NL) and glycogen (GLY) as an indicator of mussel’s energy reserve. Chemical analysis of passive samplers as well as mussel and fish tissue indicated leakage of explosives at both wrecks and a subsequent uptake by exposed organisms. The leakage of explosives was correlated with membrane impairments and signs of oxidative stress measured in exposed mussels and fish.

It is well known that anthracene is a persistent organic pollutant. Among the four natural polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) degrading strains, Comamonas testosterone (CT1) was selected as the strain with the highest degradation efficiency. In the present study, prokaryotic transcriptome analysis of CT1 revealed an increase in a gene that encodes tryptophane-2,3-dioxygenase (T23D) in the anthracene and erythromycin groups compared to CK. Compared to the wild-type CT1 strain, anthracene degradation by the CtT23D knockout mutant (CT-M1) was significantly reduced. Compared to Escherichia coli (DH5 alpha), CtT23D transformed DH5 alpha (EC-M1) had a higher degradation efficiency for anthracene. The recombinant protein rT23D oxidized tryptophan at pH 7.0 and 37 degrees C with an enzyme activity of 2.42 +/- 0.06 mu mol min(-1)center dot mg(-1) protein. In addition, gas chromatography-mass (GC-MS) analysis of anthracene degradation by EC-M1 and the purified rT23D revealed that 2-methyl-1-benzofuran-3-carbaldehyde is an anthracene metabolite, suggesting that it is a new pathway.

Dye wastewater pollution, particularly from persistent and toxic polycyclic organic pollutants, such as aniline blue, poses a significant environmental challenge. Aniline blue, a triphenylmethane dye widely used in the textile, leather, paper, and pharmaceutical industries, is notoriously difficult to treat owing to its complex structure and potential for bioaccumulation. In this study, we explored the capacity of Comamonas testosteroni (CT1) to efficiently degrade aniline blue, focusing on the underlying enzymatic mechanisms and degradation pathways. Through prokaryotic transcriptome analysis, we identified a significantly upregulated short-chain dehydrogenase (SDRz) gene (log2FC = 2.11, p < 0.05) that plays a crucial role in the degradation process. The SDRz enzyme possessed highly conserved motifs and a typical short-chain dehydrogenase structure. Functional validation using an SDRz-knockout strain (CT-ΔSDRz) and an SDRz-expressioning strains (E-SDRz) confirmed that SDRz is essential for aniline blue degradation. The knockout strain CT-ΔSDRz exhibited a 1.27-fold reduction in the degradation efficiency, compared to CT1 strain after 12 h; while the expression strain E-SDRz showed a 1.24-fold increase compared to Escherichia coli DH5α after 12 h. Recombinant SDRz (rSDRz) was successfully produced, showing significant enzymatic activity (1.267 ± 0.04 mmol·L−1·min−1 protein), with kinetic parameters Vmax = 2.870 ± 0.0156 mmol·L⁻1·min⁻1 protein and Km = 1.805 ± 0.0128 mM·mL−1. Under optimal conditions, the rSDRz achieved a degradation efficiency of 62.17% for aniline blue. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis identified several intermediate metabolites in the degradation pathway, including benzeneacetaldehyde, a, a-diphenyl, 2-amino-4-methylbenzophenone, benzene, 1-dimethylamino-4-phenylmethyl, benzenesulfonic acid, methyl ester, further elucidating the biodegradation mechanism. These findings highlight SDRz as a critical enzyme in the biodegradation of aniline blue, offering valuable insights and a robust theoretical foundation for developing advanced bioremediation strategies to address dye wastewater pollution.

Shipwrecks and dumped munition continue to be a major hazard, both in the North Sea but also on a global scale. Research within the EU Interreg project North Sea Wrecks (NSW), in cooperation with the German Aerospace Centre, Institute for the Protection of Maritime Infrastructures (DLR), is generating new insights into the status of wrecks, the potential leakage of pollutants from remaining munitions loads and the effects of contamination on exposed marine organisms in the North Sea environment. Further, historical documents are generated from archives to describe ship's history and sinking scenario. These historical findings were compared to models and images of the visual inspections of the wrecks. Further, samples of water, sediment and organisms are being analysed for traces of explosives. Combining the results of these different fields of research allows for a better understanding of the environmental risks deriving from these wrecks. This process is shown below by focusing on the wreck of the German light cruiser SMS MAINZ, which sank in 1914. Data were compared to three additional wrecks situated also within the southern German Bight. Available data about the wrecks were preliminary assessed using a wreck risk model. Finally, wrecks were ranked according to their potential environmental risk.

AbstractMicroalgae are emerging as functional feed ingredients in aquaculture due to their immune-stimulating and stress-modulating properties. We investigated the potential of the microalgae Chlorella vulgaris as a feed supplement to improve the health and modulate microbiota and stress responses of Atlantic salmon. Triplicate groups of Atlantic salmon (~ 126 g) were reared in a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) at 15 °C and received diets supplemented with 2% (CV2) or 14% (CV14) spray-dried C. vulgaris daily, 14% once weekly (CV14w), or a control diet (CD) for 8 weeks. Subsequently, all groups were exposed to an acute one-hour peracetic acid (CH3CO3H; PAA) treatment, a commonly used disinfectant in RAS. While CV14 increased feed conversion (FCR) significantly, feeding the diets CV2 and CV14w improved protein retention efficiency. CV14 significantly modulated beta-diversity in the intestinal digesta and mucosa, but this effect was already visible in fish fed CV2. Feeding CV14 and, to a lesser degree, CV2 increased the relative abundances of Paenarthrobacter and Trichococcus in the digesta and mucosa, which are able to metabolize complex carbohydrates. However, the same diets reduced the abundance of the lactic acid bacteria Lactobacillus and Weissella in the digesta and Floricoccus in the mucosa. Peracetic acid exposure induced systemic stress (increase in plasma glucose and cortisol) and a local immune response in the gill, with the most prominent upregulation of several immune- and stress-regulated genes (clra, cebpb, marco, tnfrsf14, ikba, c1ql2, drtp1) 18 h after exposure in fish fed the control diet. Fish receiving CV14 once a week showed a reduced transcriptional response to PAA exposure. Catalase protein abundance in the liver increased following exposure to PAA, while superoxide dismutase abundance in the gill and liver was increased in response to C. vulgaris inclusion before stress. Overall, the results highlight that a high (14%) inclusion rate of C. vulgaris in feed for Atlantic salmon impairs feed conversion and shifts the intestinal microbiota composition in digesta and mucosa. Weekly feeding of C. vulgaris proves a viable approach in improving protein retention and improving transcriptional resilience towards oxidative stress in increasingly intensive production systems. Thereby this study may motivate future studies on optimizing temporal feeding schedules for health-promoting aquafeeds.

In patients with prostate carcinoma as well as in some other cancer types, the reduction of testosterone levels is desired because the hormone stimulates cancer cell growth. One molecular target for this goal is the inhibition of 17 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 3 (17 beta HSD3), which produces testosterone from its direct precursor androstenedione. Recent research in this field is trying to harness photopharmacological properties of certain compounds so that the inhibitory effect could be turned on and off by irradiation. Seven new light-switchable diazocines were investigated with regard to their inhibition of 17 beta HSD3. For this purpose, transfected HEK-293 cells and isolated microsomes were treated with the substrate and the potential inhibitors with and without irradiation for an incubation period of 3 or 5 h. The amount of generated testosterone was measured by UHPLC and compared between samples and control as well as between irradiated and non-irradiated samples. There was no significant difference between samples with and without irradiation. However, four of the seven diazocines led to a significantly lower testosterone production both in cell and in microsome assays. In some of the irradiated samples, a partial destruction of the diazocines was observed, indicated by an additional UHPLC peak. However, the influence on the inhibition is negligible, because the majority of the substance remained intact. In conclusion, new inhibitors of 17 beta HSD3 have been found, but so far without the feature of a light switch, since the configurational alteration of the diazocines by irradiation did not lead to a change in bioactivity. Further modification might help to find a light-switching molecule that inhibits only in one configuration.

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.

The explosive compound 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) is well known as a major component of munitions. In addition to its potential carcinogenicity and mutagenicity in humans, recent reports have highlighted TNT toxicities in diverse organisms due to its occurrence in the environment. These toxic effects have been linked to the intracellular metabolism of TNT, which is generally characterised by redox cycling and the generation of noxious reactive molecules. The reactive intermediates formed, such as nitroso and hydroxylamine compounds also interact with oxygen molecules and cellular components to cause macromolecular damage and oxidative stress. The current review aims to highlight the crucial role of TNT metabolism in mediating TNT toxicity, via increased generation of reactive oxygen species. Cellular proliferation of reactive species results in depletion of cellular antioxidant enzymes, DNA and protein adduct formation, and oxidative stress. While TNT toxicity is well known, its ability to induce oxidative stress, resulting from its reductive activation, suggests that some of its toxic effects may be caused by its reactive metabolites. Hence, further research on TNT metabolism is imperative to elucidate TNT-induced toxicities.

Smoltification was found to impact both immune and stress responses of farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), but little is known about how salinity change affects salmon months after completed smoltification. Here, we examined (1) the effect of salinity change from brackish water to seawater on the stress and immune responses in Atlantic salmon and (2) evaluated if functional diets enriched with microalgae can mitigate stress- and immune-related changes. Groups of Atlantic salmon were fed for 8 weeks with different microalgae-enriched diets in brackish water and were then transferred into seawater. Samples of the head kidney, gill, liver and plasma were taken before seawater transfer (SWT), 20 h after SWT, and 2 weeks after SWT for gene-expression analysis, plasma biochemistry and protein quantification. The salmon showed full osmoregulatory ability upon transfer to seawater reflected by high nkaα1b levels in the gill and tight plasma ion regulation. In the gill, one-third of 44 investigated genes were reduced at either 20 h or 2 weeks in seawater, including genes involved in cytokine signaling (il1b) and antiviral defense (isg15, rsad2, ifit5). In contrast, an acute response after 20 h in SW was apparent in the head kidney reflected by increased plasma stress indicators and induced expression of genes involved in acute-phase response (drtp1), antimicrobial defense (camp) and stress response (hspa5). However, after 2 weeks in seawater, the expression of antiviral genes (isg15, rsad2, znfx1) was reduced in the head kidney. Few genes (camp, clra, c1ql2) in the gill were downregulated by a diet with 8% inclusion of Athrospira platensis. The results of the present study indicate that salinity change months after smoltification evokes molecular stress- and immune responses in Atlantic salmon. However, microalgae-enriched functional diets seem to have only limited potential to mitigate the related changes.

This review provides an overview of 15 years of munitions research by the Institute of Toxicology and Pharmacology for Natural Scientists, University Medical School Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel, Germany. As early as 2009, it was possible to detect the TNT metabolite 4-ADNT in a quantity of 250 ng/g (wet weight) in blue mussels collected directly on munition items in the Kolberger Heide dumping area (Bight of Kiel, Baltic Sea, Germany). Based on these results, biomonitoring with blue mussels was established, in which uncontaminated mussels were exposed at certain distances from munition items and then retrieved after a few weeks in order to then be analyzed in the laboratory for energetic compounds (EC) including TNT and metabolites thereof. In following studies - in addition to mussels - also fish, sediments, water samples and passive samplers from specific locations were examined for the presence of EC. The study areas included dumping site regions from both the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, and were then extended to appropriate shipwrecks in the North Sea. The field studies were completed with laboratory investigations, which dealt with the development of a molecular biomarker as a kind of "early warning system" and with aspects of microbial degradation of EC. Finally, risk assessments for the marine environment and the human seafood consumer were carried out. The sections below are based on results from more than 10 scientific research projects and more than 20 publications in primary international research journals. image