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Toxicity of Cold Lake Blend and Western Canadian Select dilbits to standard aquatic test species
Citation:
Barron, M., R. Conmy, E. Holder, P. Meyer, G. Wilson, V. Principe, AND M. Willming. Toxicity of Cold Lake Blend and Western Canadian Select dilbits to standard aquatic test species. CHEMOSPHERE. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 191:1-6, (2018).
Impact/Purpose:
This paper evaluates the toxicity of two diluted bitumen oil products (dilbits) to several standard aquatic test species. The work is important because: 1) it is baseline toxicity data generated by EPA as part of its oil spill research program, and 2) spills of dilbits in U.S. waters are an emerging concern because of potential for transport of oil products from the Canadian tar sands area.
Description:
Dilbits are blends of bitumen and natural gas condensates or crude oils with only limited toxicity data. Two dilbits, Cold Lake Blend and Western Canadian Select, were tested as either unweathered or weathered oils for acute and chronic toxicity to standard freshwater and estuarine organisms. Water accommodated fractions of the dilbits were characterized for total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and monoaromatics (BTEX). Acute toxicity of unweathered and weathered dilbits ranged from 4 to 16 mg/L TPH, 8 to 40 μg/L total PAHs, and 0.7 to 16 mg/L BTEX in Ceriodaphnia dubia, Pimephales promelas, Americamysis bahia, and Menidia beryllina. Concentrations of weathered dilbits causing impaired growth (A. bahia) and reproduction (C. dubia) ranged from 0.8 to 3.5 mg/L TPH and 6 to 16 μg/L PAHs. The two dilbits had generally similar acute and short term chronic toxicity expressed as TPH or total PAHs as other crude oils and other petroleum products.
