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Toxicity of oil spill response agents and crude oils to five aquatic test species
Citation:
Barron, M., A. Bejarano, R. Conmy, D. Sundaravadivelu, AND P. Meyer. Toxicity of oil spill response agents and crude oils to five aquatic test species. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 153(110954):110954, (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.110954
Impact/Purpose:
This journal article presents EPA's current ecotoxicity test results for petroleum and oil spill response agents. New information on the relative hazards of different oil spill response agents is presented. Because the vast majority of aquatic toxicity data for petroleum products has been limited to a few intensively studied crude oils and Corexit chemical dispersants, toxicity testing has largely been focused on acute lethality in two standard estuarine test species: mysids (Americamysis bahia) and inland silversides (Menidia beryllina). The results indicate that standard freshwater species can have similar sensitivity as the conventionally tested mysids and silversides, and that the sea urchin (Arbacia punctulata) appears to be a reasonable addition to increase taxa diversity in standardized oil agent testing. Inclusion of this information and approach will result in higher confidence hazard assessments of these compounds.
Description:
The majority of aquatic toxicity data for petroleum products has been limited to a few intensively studied crude oils and Corexit chemical dispersants, and acute toxicity testing in two standard estuarine test species: mysids (Americamysis bahia) and inland silversides (Menidia beryllina). This study compared the toxicity of two chemical dispersants commonly stock piled for spill response (Corexit EC9500A®, Finasol®OSR 52), three less studied agents (Accell Clean®DWD dispersant; CytoSol® surface washing agent; Gelco200® solidifier), and three crude oils differing in hydrocarbon composition (Dorado, Endicott, Alaska North Slope). Consistent with listings on the U.S. National Contingency Plan Product Schedule, general rank order toxicity was greatest for dispersants and lowest for the solidifier. The results indicate that freshwater species can have similar sensitivity as the conventionally tested mysids and silversides, and that the sea urchin (Arbacia punctulata) appears to be a reasonable addition to increase taxa diversity in standardized oil agent testing.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Toxicity of oil spill response agents and crude oils to five aquatic test species