Nieuws | DISARM project

Suitable testing facilities now available at GhEnToxLab, Ghent University

Within DISARM, innovative approaches will be applied to generate new data on the distribution and effects of munition-related chemicals, ultimately resulting in a generic assessment of ecological and human health risk of these chemicals. For this, suitable testing facilities had to be developed taking into consideration safety and legislation information regarding the purchase, storage, working environment and disposal of subsequent waste, ensuring that all safety conditions are fulfilled to perform exposure experiments with the selected explosives, chemicals warfare agents and corresponding degradation products.

Paardenmarkt deposits

After collecting sediment cores from the Paardenmarkt surroundings, VLIZ researchers started analysing them for a range of sedimentological properties in order to improve our understanding of the environment in which microbes are producing biogenic gases. These sedimentological properties include grain size, water content, organic content, depositional structure, and a set of geophysical characteristics such as density and magnetic susceptibility (a measure of how much a material becomes magnetised in an applied magnetic field).

Bacteria can grow on explosives or chemical warfare agents

The dumped munition at the Paardenmarkt contains a large amount of explosive compounds such as 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and chemical warfare agents such as Yperite (mustard gas). If released into the environment, these compounds could be very harmful to the marine ecosystem. In terms of managing these chemicals, the crucial research question is: are they biodegradable?

Increased detection limits of TNT in the seabed and overlaying water

As TNT is susceptible to microbial degradation, some of the metabolites are on the list of target compounds. Although TNT is well-known as explosive, it is a very toxic compound as well, and some of the degradation products are even more toxic. Moreover, the presence of TNT in the surrounding sediment and water, originally well-hidden in the housing of the explosive device, is an indication of the corrosion or so-called “loss of integrity”, not surprising for metal capsulations in a seawater environment.

Shallow gas research

Previous research has shown that the shallow subbottom sediments in the Paardenmarkt area contain a substantial amount of gas, either adsorbed onto sediment particles, dissolved in pore water or as bubbles in pore space. This phenomenon is not exceptional, and can be observed in many shallow seas throughout the world. The source of the gas is believed to be biogenic and a result of bacterial degradation of organic matter. The composition, concentration and fluxes of the gas, and its variability with depositional depth, however, have barely been studied and are poorly understood. Potential interactions between gas and buried munition shells may significantly influence corrosion velocity and the eventual release and spread of toxins into the environment. Hence, it is of great importance to conduct a thorough study of shallow gas in the Paardenmarkt area -in the sediment and water column- to better understand its entailments.

Corrosion research

The core task of the Antwerp Maritime Academy Corrosion Team (Amacort) is to assess the present and future (corrosion) condition of the munition at the Paardenmarkt dumpsite. Since we are not allowed to bring any shells to the surface and determine their state by observation and measurement, we have to rely on an experimental approach, statistical analysis and modelling.