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DIRECT AND PHOTOACTIVATED TOXICITY OF A COMPLEX PETROLEUM MIXTURE: A COMPARISON OF SOLUBILIZATION METHODS
Citation:
Diamond, S A., M. Barron, AND R. W. Ricker. DIRECT AND PHOTOACTIVATED TOXICITY OF A COMPLEX PETROLEUM MIXTURE: A COMPARISON OF SOLUBILIZATION METHODS. Presented at 21st SETAC Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN, November 12-16, 2000.
Description:
This work addresses several issues associated with the toxicity of a complex petroleum mixture (combined kerosene/diesel and crude oil), including developmental effects and early lifestage mortality, method of solubilization, and potential photo-activated and photo-modified toxicity. Soluble fractions (SF) were generated using slow-stir (SS), high energy dispersion (HE), and elution column (EC) methods. Forty-eight hr Menidia beryllina (MB) survival tests and 48 or 72 hr Strongylocentrotus purpuratus (SP) developmental abnormality tests were completed using a series of SF dilutions. To test for phototoxicity, dilution replicates were placed in UV light. Generally, two range finding and one confirmatory tests were conducted. In all UV-treatment MB assays toxicity of HE was between 2.7 and 5 times greater than SS and EC. SS toxicity was slightly higher relative to EC toxicity. Results under white light were extremely variable among the exposures and no consistent differences could be discerned. Slight phototoxicity was apparent in SS and EC, but was more pronounced in HE (5x,5x, and 1.5x in the three tests). In SP, non-UV tests, SS and HE demonstrated similar toxicity and both were more toxic (1.7x to 4x) than EC. All SFs demonstrated similar and consistently inceased toxicity (2.2x to 3.5x) in SP UV treatments. These results indicate that the method of solubilization can have a statistically significant effect on the toxicity of this complex petroleum product. However, differences among methods were within a single order of magnitude. Photo-induced or modified toxicity can occur in the SF of this product, although its potential magnitude may have been limited by the UV radiation intensity.