Toxicity of four spill-treating agents on bacterial growth and sea urchin embryogenesis

Effects of Dispersant on the Petroleum Hydrocarbon Biodegradation and Microbial Communities in Seawater from the Baltic Sea and Norwegian Sea

Dispersants have been used in several oil spill accidents, but little information is available on their effectiveness in Baltic Sea conditions with low salinity and cold seawater. This study investigated the effects of dispersant use on petroleum hydrocarbon biodegradation rates and bacterial community structures. Microcosm experiments were conducted at 5 °C for 12 days with North Sea crude oil and dispersant Finasol 51 with open sea Gulf of Bothnia and coastal Gulf of Finland and Norwegian Sea seawater. Petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations were analysed with GC-FID. Bacterial community structures were studied using 16S rDNA gene amplicon sequencing, and the abundance of genes involved in hydrocarbon degradation with quantitative PCR. The highest oil degradation gene abundances and oil removal were observed in microcosms with coastal seawater from the Gulf of Bothnia and Gulf of Finland, respectively, and the lowest in the seawater from the Norwegian Sea. Dispersant usage caused apparent effects on bacterial communities in all treatments; however, the dispersant’s effect on the biodegradation rate was unclear due to uncertainties with chemical analysis and variation in oil concentrations used in the experiments.

In vitro toxicity testing in hemocytes of the marine mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis (L.) to uncover mechanisms of action of the water accommodated fraction (WAF) of a naphthenic North Sea crude oil without and with dispersant

Dispersants used in oil spills could result toxic to marine organisms and could influence the toxicity of oil compounds. The aim of this work was to uncover the mechanisms of action of the water accommodated fraction (WAF) of a naphthenic North Sea crude oil produced at 10, 15 and 20 °C without and with the dispersant Finasol OSR52 (WAF and WAFD, respectively) using hemocytes of the marine mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis. Primary cultures of hemocytes were exposed in glass-coated microplates to different WAF or WAFD dilutions (0.25, 2.5, 25, 50 and 100%) and to the dispersant alone at the same concentrations present in the WAFD dilutions (1.25, 12.5, 125, 250 and 500 mg/L). Of the two in vitro approaches tested, the second one was selected which involved exposure of hemocytes for 4 h to unfiltered WAF, WAFD and dispersant dilutions without cell culture media. WAF decreased hemocytes viability only at the highest dilution whereas WAFD and the dispersant alone were cytotoxic at the three highest concentrations. Temperature of production of WAF, WAFD and dispersant did not influence their cytotoxicity to hemocytes. WAF increased ROS production and MXR transport activity in hemocytes. Exposure to WAFD and dispersant increased ROS production, provoked plasma membrane and actin cytoskeleton disruption and decreased phagocytic activity. In conclusion, the dispersant tested was toxic to mussel hemocytes and it greatly increased the toxicity of WAFD. The present data could be useful for the environmental risk assessment of oil spills and their remediation strategies in the marine environment.

Effects of dispersant used for oil spill remediation on nitrogen cycling in Louisiana coastal salt marsh soil

On April 20, 2010, the BP Deepwater Horizon (DWH) offshore oil platform experienced an explosion which triggered the largest marine oil spill in US history. Approximately 7.9 million liters of dispersant, Corexit EC9500A, was used during the spill between May 15th and July 12th. Marsh soil samples were collected from an unimpacted marsh site proximal to coastal areas that suffered light to heavy oiling for a laboratory evaluation to determine the effect of Corexit on the wetland soil microbial biomass as well as N-mineralization and denitrification rates. Microbial biomass nitrogen (N) values were below detection for the 1:10, 1:100 and 1:1000 Corexit:wet soil treatments. The potentially mineralizable N (PMN) rate correlated with microbial biomass with significantly lower rates for the 1:10 and 1:100 Corexit:wet soil additions. Potential denitrification rates for Corexit:wet soil ratios after immediate dispersant exposure were below detection for the 1:10 treatment, while the 1:100 was 7.6±2.7% of the control and the 1:1000 was 33±4.3% of the control. The 1:10000 treatment was not significantly different from the control. Denitrification rates measured after 2 weeks exposure to the surfactant found the 1:10 treatment still below detection limit and the 1:100 ratio was 12±2.6% of the control. Results from this lab study suggest that chemical dispersants have the potential to negatively affect the wetland soil microbial biomass and resultant microbial activity. Consequences of exposure led to reductions in several important microbial-regulated ecosystem services including water quality improvement (denitrification) and ecosystem primary productivity (N-mineralization). Future studies should investigate the longer-term impacts of dispersant exposure on the microbial consortia to determine if microbial activity recovers over time.