title: Effects of TNT leakage from dumped ammunition on fish and invertebrates in static brackish water systems.
abstract: The objective of the present study was to study the release and effect of TNT from dumped ammunition. Cleaved artillery shells were placed in static brackish water systems for 5 months, and another 12 months with 5 cm sediment burial. The toxicity was determined in bioassays with crustaceans (Nitocra spinipes and Hyalella azteca) and/or European flounder (Platichtys flesus). The water phase was analysed for TNT using colorimetric method and GC-MS. This study showed a rapid release of TNT to acutely toxic concentrations when the cleaved ammuniton was not covered with sediment under static conditions, but that the release was effectively inhibited by sediment burial of the artillery shells. Hence, at least in a short-term perspective, acute adverse effects of sediment-buried ammunition on aquatic organisms should be greatly reduced.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Göteborg University, Box 461, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Helene
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ek
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nilsson
authors.forename: Göran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dave
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003445:Crustacea / Q000187:drug effects*; D017753:Ecosystem; D005432:Flounder; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D013997:Time Factors; D014303:Trinitrotoluene / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D014867:Water; D014303:Trinitrotoluene