TITLE:
The Biodegradation of Dispersed Oil Does Not Induce Toxicity at Environmentally-Relevant Concentrations
AUTHORS:
Roger C. Prince, Bryan M. Hedgpeth, Aaron D. Redman, Josh D. Butler
KEYWORDS:
Oil Spills, Dispersants, Biodegradation, Acute Toxicity, Hopane, Americamysis bahia
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Marine Science,
Vol.9 No.3,
July
17,
2019
ABSTRACT: Applying dispersants to spilled
crude oil results in an oil in water dispersion of microscopic oil droplets
that soon dilutes to levels below 1 ppm oil. These levels are substantially
below those known to induce acute toxicity in 96-hour tests. We show
here that oil hydrocarbons are biodegraded very rapidly in such situations (50%
loss in 4 days in this experiment), and that no increase in acute toxicity to
mysids (Americamysis bahia) is seen during this biodegradation, or over the following 20 days as
the oil is further degraded (78% loss of detectable hydrocarbons in this
experiment).