Application of NMR-based techniques in aquatic toxicology: Brief examples

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) has been employed over many years for the elucidation of chemical structures. However, in more recent years it has been used to characterize sublethal actions of pollutants in aquatic organisms. For instance, in vivo NMR involves live, intact organisms or cell cultures and the application of chemical stressors to reveal toxic mechanisms in real time. Alternatively, NMR-based metabolomics involves rapid cessation of metabolic activity following chemical exposure (via liquid N₂) to provide an assessment of metabolic actions via more traditional NMR analysis. Two examples are briefly presented to exemplify the power of NMR for assessing toxic actions in marine and freshwater organisms.