Jennifer Susanne Strehse

Purpose: Teaching of sustainability in pharmaceutical and medical sciences is not mandatory in Germany. As education is an important aspect of creating awareness for present and future generations, the authors created a political roadmap together with supporting material for the integration of sustainability within higher education, apprenticeships and professional training. Design/methodology/approach: This paper aims to summarise a two-tier project carried out from October 2021 to March 2025. Firstly, a political roadmap was created, afterwards teaching slides, an accompanying text, information material and a website were designed in close connection with stakeholder EPs and graphic designers to lower the hurdle for integrating sustainability aspects in health-care education. Findings: The authors demonstrate multiple possibilities for integrating sustainability into education within health care and generated open-access, easy-to-use and freely editable slides, together with an explanatory accompanying text. In addition, a website compiles important information on the key problems and measures that health-care professionals and patients can take to reduce the entry of drug residues into the environment. Continuously updated teaching slides and accompanying text, website and information material can be found at Link to the website of uba and downloaded from: Link to the website of umweltbundesamt Originality/value: The integration often fails due to lack of time, high hurdles of delving into a new topic and creating teaching material parallel to everyday work. This work provides a political roadmap for educational integration of sustainability, ready-to-use and easy-to-integrate teaching material.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Submerged munitions are present in marine waters across the globe. They contain energetic compounds (ECs), such as TNT and metabolites thereof, which are considered carcinogenic, exhibit toxic effects in marine organisms, and may affect human health. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of ECs and their trends in blue mussels from the annual collections of the German Environmental Specimen Bank sampled over the last 30 years at three different locations along the coastline of the Baltic and North Sea. Samples were analyzed by GC-MS/MS for 1,3-dinitrobenzene (1,3-DNB), 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT), 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene (2-ADNT), and 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene (4-ADNT). The first signals indicating trace levels of 1,3-DNB were observed in samples from 1999 and 2000. ECs were also found below the limit of detection (LoD) in subsequent years. From 2012 onwards, signals just above the LoD were detected. The highest signal intensities of 2-ADNT and 4-ADNT, just below the LoQ (0.14 ng/g d.w. and 0.17 ng/g d.w., respectively), were measured in 2019 and 2020. This study clearly shows that corroding submerged munitions are gradually releasing ECs into the waters that can be detected in randomly sampled blue mussels, even though the concentrations measured are still in the non-quantifiable trace range.

After World War II, large amounts of ammunition were dumped in surface waters worldwide, potentially releasing harmful and toxic compounds to the environment. To study their degradation, ammunition items dumped in the Eastern Scheldt in The Netherlands were surfaced. Severe damage due to corrosion and leak paths through the casings were observed, making the explosives in the ammunition accessible to sea water. Using novel techniques, the concentrations of ammunition-related compounds in the surrounding seabed and in the seawater were analyzed at 15 different locations. In the direct vicinity of ammunition, elevated concentrations of ammunition-related compounds (both metals and organic substances) were found. Concentrations of energetic compounds ranged from below the limit of detection (LoD) up to the low two-digit ng/L range in water samples, and from below the LoD up to the one-digit ng/g dry weight range in sediment samples. Concentrations of metals were found up to the low microgram/L range in water and up the low ng/g dry weight in sediment. However, even though the water and sediment samples were collected as close to the ammunition items as possible, the concentrations of these compounds were low and, as far as available, no quality standards or limits were exceeded. The presence of fouling, the low solubility of the energetic compounds, and dilution by the high local water current were concluded to be the main causes for the absence of high concentrations of ammunition-related compounds. As a conclusion, these new analytical methods should be applied to continuously monitor the Eastern Scheldt munitions dump site.

The Baltic and North Seas still contain large amounts of dumped munitions from both World Wars. The exposure of the munition shells to the seawater causes corrosion, which leads to the disintegration of shells and a leakage of energetic compounds, including the highly toxic 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), and consequently threatening the marine environment. To evaluate the risk of accumulation of energetic compounds from conventional munitions in the marine food chain, we analyzed the presence of TNT and its metabolites 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene (2-ADNT) and 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene (4-ADNT) as well as their byproducts 1,3-dinitrobenzene (1,3-DNB) and 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT) in different tissues (including muscle, liver, kidney, brain, and bile) from 25 Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima) from the Danish Baltic Sea. Tissues were prepared according to approved protocols, followed by GC-MS/MS analysis. None of the aforementioned energetic compounds were detected in any of the samples. This pilot study is one of the first analyzing the presence of explosive chemicals in tissues from a free-ranging predatory species. This study highlights the need for continuous monitoring at different levels of the trophic chain to increase our knowledge on the distribution and possible accumulation of energetic compounds in the marine environment in order to provide reliable data for decision-making tools and risk assessments.

Since World War I, considerable amounts of warfare materials have been dumped at seas worldwide. After more than 70 years of resting on the seabed, reports suggest that the metal shells of these munitions are corroding, such that explosive chemicals leak out and distribute in the marine environment. Explosives such as TNT (2,4,6-trinitrotoluene) and its derivatives are known for their toxicity and carcinogenicity, thereby posing a threat to the marine environment. Toxicity studies suggest that chemical components of munitions are unlikely to cause acute toxicity to marine organisms. However, there is increasing evidence that they can have sublethal and chronic effects in aquatic biota, especially in organisms that live directly on the sea floor or in subsurface substrates. Moreover, munition-dumping sites could serve as nursery habitats for young biota species, demanding special emphasis on all kinds of developing juvenile marine animals. Unfortunately, these chemicals may also enter the marine food chain and directly affect human health upon consuming contaminated seafood. While uptake and accumulation of toxic munition compounds in marine seafood species such as mussels and fish have already been shown, a reliable risk assessment for the human seafood consumer and the marine ecosphere is lacking and has not been performed until now. In this review, we compile the first data and landmarks for a reliable risk assessment for humans who consume seafood contaminated with munition compounds. We hereby follow the general guidelines for a toxicological risk assessment of food as suggested by authorities.