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Ecotoxicology of Deep Ocean Spills.
Citation:
Barron, M., S. Chiasson, AND A. Bejarano. Ecotoxicology of Deep Ocean Spills. Chapter 26, Deep Oil Spills: Facts, Fate, and Effects. Springer, Heidelberg, Germany, , 466-479, (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11605-7_27
Impact/Purpose:
The purpose of this book chapter is to summarize the central issues in the ecotoxicology of deep ocean spills. The impact of this work is three fold: 1) deep ocean drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is likely to occur in the future, creating the potential for deep ocean oil spills, thus understanding the state of the science in ecotoxicology is important to better understand the potential impacts of future deep ocean spills. 2) EPA is responsible for regulating dispersants, and future use of dispersants in the deep ocean is probable, thus it is important to understand the state of the science in ecotoxicology. 3) This chapter will be part of a 2 volume book set that will be an excellent forum for communicating this science to the scientific community and the public. It identifies the most significant data gaps in our understanding of deep ocean ecotoxicology and will help guide future research.
Description:
Central issues in the ecotoxicology of oil spills in the subsea are the unknown sensitivity of deep ocean species and the complexity and diversity of habitats that may be affected in subsea, offshore, and coastal environments. This chapter reviews and discusses the unique aspects of assessing spill risks and impacts to deep ocean species and approaches for toxicity extrapolation across a diversity of ecological communities and environments. The focus of this chapter is on aquatic species, based primarily on the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) with information and experiences drawn from the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill.
