Knowledge Portal Munitions in the SeaDistribution of munition compounds in the marine food web and effects on the sustainability of the biological production of the seas.
The chemical munition compounds that leak from munitions in the sea pose a potential risk to seafood consumers. Near munition dumpsites and shipwrecks, TNT and its degradation products have been found in a wide range of aquatic organisms including algae, benthic infauna, mussels, and fish. It is less well known how long munition compounds persist in biological tissues, and how rapidly they may be excreted. Ongoing work seeks to characterise how widely organisms are contaminated with munition compounds and the mechanisms of their retention in biological tissues.