Toxicity of Oil and Dispersed Oil on Juvenile Mud Crabs, Rhithropanopeus harrisii

Abstract

In order to simulate an offshore oil spill event, we assessed the acute toxicity of the non-dispersed and the chemically dispersed water-accommodated fraction (WAF) of crude oil using Louisiana sweet crude and Corexit(®) 9500A with juvenile Harris mud crabs (Rhithropanopeus harrisii), an important Gulf of Mexico benthic crustacean. The chemical dispersion of crude oil significantly increased acute toxicity of the WAF in juvenile mud crabs compared to naturally dispersed oil. The majority of the mortality in the chemically dispersed treatments occurred within 24 h. While higher concentrations of chemically dispersed WAF had no survivors, at lower concentrations surviving juvenile crabs displayed no long-term effects. These results suggest that if the juvenile crabs survive initial exposure, acute exposure to dispersed or non-dispersed crude oil may not induce long-term effects.

Acute Toxicity of Water-Accommodated Fraction and Chemically Enhanced WAF of Bunker C Oil and Dispersant to a Microalga Tetraselmis tetrathele

“…The increase in the toxicity of oil due to the addition of dispersant has been reported in many past studies (Fabregas et al 1984;Koyama and Kakuno 2004;Ramachandran et al 2004;Baek et al 2013;Lee et al 2013;Cohen et al 2014Anderson et al 2014). However, the results of this study showed that CEWAF of bunker C oil and DISP were both highly toxic.…”

“…Added to this, exposure of periphyton to chemically dispersed oil led to reduced total abundance, with observations that algae exposed to higher concentrations could not become colonized (Baek et al 2013). The same increased toxicity was noted for zooplankton (Lee et al 2013;Cohen et al 2014), crustaceans (Anderson et al 2014) and fish (Koyama and Kakuno 2004;Ramachandran et al 2004) after exposure to chemically dispersed oil.…”

Toxicity of the Dispersant Corexit 9500 to Early Life Stages of Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus

“…Previous studies have looked at the effect of petroleum hydrocarbons on blue crabs (Wang and Stickle 1988). Since dispersants allow oil to mix more readily into the water column, chemically dispersed oil has been found to be significantly more toxic than non-chemically dispersed oil (George-Ares and Clark 2000; Ramachandran et al 2004;Khan and Payne 2005;Anderson et al 2014). We also focused on acute toxicity.…”

Effects of MVRenaheavy fuel oil and dispersed oil on yellowtail kingfish early life stages

“…The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) fraction, consisting of aromatic benzene rings, forms a significant proportion of the wateraccommodated fraction (WAF) of both oil types. Previous studies show that PAHs can be toxic to marine organisms (Barron et al 2004;Couillard et al 2004;Incardona et al 2004Incardona et al , 2014Anderson et al 2009Anderson et al , 2014Scott et al 2011;Agamy 2012). Toxicity and the physiological mode of action differ between PAHs (Incardona et al 2004(Incardona et al , 2005(Incardona et al , 2006.…”

“…It is clear, however, from studies conducted elsewhere that oil contamination affects a range of marine taxa (Taban et al 2004;Aarab et al 2011;Almeda et al 2014aAlmeda et al , 2014bCohen et al 2014). In addition, the chemical dispersants often used to remove oil from surface waters may increase chemical toxicity in the surrounding media (Couillard et al 2004;Ramachandran et al 2004;Anderson et al 2009Anderson et al , 2014Schein et al 2009;Zhang et al 2013). It is important, therefore, that decision-makers have access to information regarding toxic thresholds of these contaminants and which species are most at risk.…”