title: Review of environmental exposure concentrations of chemical warfare agent residues and associated the fish community risk following the construction and completion of the Nord Stream gas pipeline between Russia and Germany.
abstract: This paper compiles all the measured chemical warfare agent (CWA) concentrations found in relation to the Nord Stream pipeline work in Danish waters for the past 5 years. Sediment and biota sampling were performed along the pipeline route in four campaigns, prior to (in 2008 and 2010), during (in 2011) and after (in 2012) the construction work. No parent CWAs were detected in the sediments. Patchy residues of CWA degradation products of Adamsite, Clark I, phenyldichloroarsine, trichloroarsine and Lewisite II, were detected in a total of 29 of the 391 sediment samples collected and analyzed the past 5 years. The cumulative fish community risk quotient for the different locations, calculated as a sum of background and added risk, ranged between 0 and 0.017 suggesting a negligible acute CWA risk toward the fish community. The added risk from sediment disturbance in relation to construction of the pipelines represents less than 2% of the total risk in the areas with the highest calculated risk. The analyses of benthic infauna corroborate the finding of CWA related low risk across the years. There was no significant difference in CWA risk before (2008) and after the pipeline construction (2012).
authors.affiliation: Aarhus University, Department for Environmental Science, Denmark. Electronic address: hasa@dmu.dk.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sanderson
authors.affiliation: Aarhus University, Department for Environmental Science, Denmark.
authors.forename: Patrik
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fauser
authors.affiliation: Nord Stream AG, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Malene
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rahbek
authors.affiliation: Ramboll Oil and Gas, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jørn Bo
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Larsen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents / Q000633:toxicity*; D003718:Denmark; D004350:Drug Residues / Q000032:analysis; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D005399:Fishes / Q000502:physiology*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis; D005858:Germany; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D059206:Natural Gas; D012426:Russia; D012623:Seawater / Q000032:analysis; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents; D059206:Natural Gas; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Baltic Sea; Chemical warfare agents; Fish community; Gas pipeline; Risk; Sediment