Comparison of Substance‐Based and Whole‐Effluent Toxicity of Produced Water Discharges from Norwegian Offshore Oil and Gas Installations

Vries, P. de; Jak, R.G.; Frost, Tone Karin

doi:10.1002/etc.5414

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 63 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, this approach is still somewhat limited by the requirement for toxicity data for all measured contaminants in the PW and by its reliance on the ability to measure all components within the PW, including process chemicals, when not all organic compounds can be identified using current analytical approaches. Indeed, de Vries et al (2022) attributed inaccurate SB‐derived estimations of toxicity for 21 out of 25 PWs in a direct comparison of SB and WET approaches to the inability to adequately characterize the PWs, particularly in relation to process chemicals and other unknown organic compounds.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The least sensitive test to WP PWs was the acute fish imbalance test. The WP PWs were more toxic to bacterial luminescence based on EC50 values (0.79%-1.2%) than PWs from elsewhere (Supporting Information: Table S5); however, the WP PWs were only slightly more toxic than a PW from another gas platform on the North West Shelf, which had an EC50 of 1.8% PW (Binet et al, 2011) and PWs from two Norwegian oil facilities that had EC50s of 1.4% and 1.8% (de Vries et al, 2022). Sensitivity to WP PWs of all other tests was similar to those observed for other PWs from gas/condensate platforms, for the same endpoint and exposure types, and were typically more toxic than PWs from oil platforms (Supporting Information: Table S5).…”

Section: Toxicity Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Advantages of model averaging of species sensitivity distributions used for regulating produced water discharges

Binet

Golding

Adams

et al. 2023

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Produced water (PW) generated by Australian offshore oil and gas activities is typically discharged to the ocean after treatment. These complex mixtures of organic and inorganic compounds can pose significant environmental risk to receiving waters, if not managed appropriately. Oil and gas operators in Australia are required to demonstrate that environmental impacts of their activity are managed to levels that are as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP), e.g., through risk assessments comparing predicted no‐effect concentrations (PNEC) with predicted environmental concentrations (PEC) of PW. Probabilistic species sensitivity distribution (SSD) approaches are increasingly being used to derive PW PNECs and subsequently calculating the dilutions of PW (termed “safe” dilutions) required to protect a nominated percentage of species in the receiving environment (e.g., 95% or 99%, or PC95 and PC99, respectively). Limitations associated with SSDs include fitting a single model to small (6‐8 species) datasets, resulting in large uncertainty (very wide 95% confidence limits) in the region associated with PC99 and PC95 results. Recent advances in SSD methodology, in the form of model‐averaging, claim to overcome some of these limitations by applying the average model fit of multiple models to a dataset. We assessed the advantages and limitations of four different SSD software packages for determining PNEC values for five PWs from a gas/condensate platform off the North‐West Shelf of Australia. Model‐averaging reduced occurrences of extreme uncertainty around PC95 and PC99 values compared to single model fitting and was less prone to derivation of overly conservative PC99 and PC95 values that resulted from lack of fit to single models. Our results support the use of model‐averaging for improved robustness in derived PNEC and subsequent “safe” dilution values for PW discharge management and risk assessment. In addition, we present and discuss the toxicity of PW considering the paucity of such information in peer‐reviewed literature.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Toxicity Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advantages of model averaging of species sensitivity distributions used for regulating produced water discharges

Binet

Golding

Adams

et al. 2023

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The focus for further data generation should thus be on PCs and other compounds with large AFs to assess their actual contribution to risk in the RBA. Doing so may also decrease the gap between the WET and SB approach, as differences in their risk estimates were found to be mainly attributed to difficulties in determining PC concentrations, which in turn highly affected SB toxicity due to their large AFs (de Vries et al, 2022). Failure to do so could result in wrong interpretation of what causes PW ecotoxicity and thus an unbalanced prioritization of mitigation efforts.…”

Section: Implications For Risk Estimation In the Rbamentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical review of the OSPAR risk‐based approach for offshore‐produced water discharges

Nielsen

Baun

Andersen

et al. 2022

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The management of produced water (PW) discharges from offshore oil and gas installations in the North Atlantic is under the auspices of OSPAR (Oslo/Paris convention for Protection of the Marine Environment of the North‐East Atlantic). In 2010, OSPAR introduced the risk‐based approach (RBA) for PW management. The RBA includes a hazard assessment estimating PW ecotoxicity using two approaches: whole‐effluent toxicity (WET) and substance‐based (SB). Set against the framework of the WET and SB approach, we conducted a literature review on the magnitude and cause of PW ecotoxicity, respectively, and on the challenges of estimating these. A large variability in the reported magnitude of PW WET was found, with EC50 or LC50 values ranging from <1% to >100%, and a median of 11% (n = 301). Across the literature, metals, hydrocarbons, and production chemicals were identified as causing ecotoxicity. However, this review reveals how knowledge gaps on PW composition and high sample and species dependency of PW ecotoxicity make clear identification and generalization difficult. It also highlights how limitations regarding the availability and reliability of ecotoxicity data result in large uncertainties in the subsequent risk estimates, which is not adequately reflected in the RBA output (e.g., environmental impact factors). Thus, it is recommended to increase the focus on improving ecotoxicity data quality before further use in the RBA, and that WET should play a more pronounced role in the testing strategy. To increase the reliability of the SB approach, more attention should be paid to the actual composition of PW. Bioassay‐directed chemical analysis, combining outcomes of WET and SB in toxicity identification evaluations, may hold the key to identifying drivers of ecotoxicity in PW. Finally, an uncertainty appraisal must be an integrated part of all reporting of risk estimates in the RBA, to avoid mitigation actions based on uncertainties rather than reliable ecotoxicity estimations. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2022;00:1–16. © 2022 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

show abstract

“…The presence of dissolved organic compounds is a primary cause of produced water toxicity. , Because of the large diversity of compounds in the water, the unknown toxicities of these compounds, and the difficulty of detecting all of them, predicting the toxicity of produced water is a challenge . There are three classes of organic compounds present in produced water: (1) injected chemicals, such as biocides and surfactants, the structures of which are known to some degree based on FracFocus listings, (2) subsurface chemicals, which consist of naturally occurring hydrocarbons and water-soluble aromatics, and (3) transformation products, which are the result of reactions between injected fluids and subsurface chemicals .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Iron in Oxidant-Initiated Halogenation Reactions of Hydraulic Fracturing Additives

Burrows,

Goldberg,

Xiong

et al. 2023

ACS Earth Space Chem.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Produced water is the largest waste stream associated with hydraulic fracturing. The presence of unknown dissolved contaminants in produced water prevents its reuse. Many of these contaminants are transformation productscompounds that are generated during the fracturing process by chemical reactions between injected chemicals and reservoir components. Reactions among fracturing fluid additives, reservoir brine, and injected oxidants result in halogenation reactions that generate halogenated contaminants with high expected toxicity. Here, we investigate the role of subsurface iron in facilitating subsurface halogenation reactions. Experiments were performed using a model brine, cinnamaldehyde as a model fracturing fluid additive, two different oxidants used in hydraulic fracturing (ammonium persulfate and sodium hypochlorite), and three different iron species (iron(II) dichloride, iron(III) trichloride, and iron(II) dichloride chelated with citric acid). We observed that iron(II) dichloride increased iodination reactions in the presence of ammonium persulfate oxidant, while iron(III) trichloride increased bromination reactions in the presence of sodium hypochlorite oxidant. Although the absence of replicate analyses in this study precludes the ability to assess the reproducibility of the data, we believe that these results can serve as inspiration for future researchers to consider the potential involvement of iron in chemical reactions of fracturing fluid additives.

show abstract

Comparison of Substance‐Based and Whole‐Effluent Toxicity of Produced Water Discharges from Norwegian Offshore Oil and Gas Installations

Cited by 11 publications

References 63 publications

Advantages of model averaging of species sensitivity distributions used for regulating produced water discharges

Advantages of model averaging of species sensitivity distributions used for regulating produced water discharges

Critical review of the OSPAR risk‐based approach for offshore‐produced water discharges

The Role of Iron in Oxidant-Initiated Halogenation Reactions of Hydraulic Fracturing Additives

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About