Application of Chemical Herders Do Not Increase Acute Crude Oil Toxicity to Cold-Water Marine Species

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bjørn Henrik Hansen ◽  
Trond Nordtug ◽  
Ida Beathe Øverjordet ◽  
Dag Altin ◽  
Julia Farkas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Oil Toxicity

scholarly journals Untangling mechanisms of crude oil toxicity: Linking gene expression, morphology and PAHs at two developmental stages in a cold-water fish

2021 ◽  
Vol 757 ◽  
pp. 143896
Author(s):  
Elin Sørhus ◽  
Carey E. Donald ◽  
Denis da Silva ◽  
Anders Thorsen ◽  
Ørjan Karlsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Crude Oil ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Water Fish ◽  
Oil Toxicity

scholarly journals Untangling mechanisms of crude oil toxicity: linking gene expression, morphology and PAHs at two developmental stages in a cold-water fish

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elin Sørhus ◽  
Carey E. Donald ◽  
Denis da Silva ◽  
Anders Thorsen ◽  
Ørjan Karlsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Crude Oil ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Melanogrammus Aeglefinus ◽  
List Type ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Oil Droplet ◽  
Oil Toxicity ◽  
Oil Exposure

AbstractEarly life stages of fish are highly sensitive to crude oil exposure and thus, short term exposures during critical developmental periods could have detrimental consequences for juvenile survival. Here we administered crude oil to Atlantic haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) in short term (3-day) exposures at two developmental time periods: before first heartbeat, from gastrulation to cardiac cone stage (early), and from first heartbeat to one day before hatching (late). A frequent sampling regime enabled us to determine immediate PAH uptake, metabolite formation and gene expression changes. In general, the embryotoxic consequences of an oil exposure were more severe in the early exposure animals. Oil droplet fouling in the highest doses resulted in severe cardiac and craniofacial abnormalities. Gene expression changes of Cytochrome 1 a,b,c and d (cyp1a,b,c,d), Bone morphogenetic protein 10 (bmp10), ABC transporter b1 (abcb1) and Rh-associated G-protein (rhag) were linked to PAH uptake, occurrence of metabolites of phenanthrene and developmental and functional abnormalities. We detected circulation-independent, oil-induced gene expression changes and separated phenotypes linked to proliferation, growth and disruption of formation events at early and late developmental stages. Our study gives an increased knowledge about developmentally dependent effects of crude oil toxicity. Thus, providing more knowledge and detail to new and several existing adverse outcome pathways of crude oil toxicity.Graphical abstractHighlightsOil droplet fouling occurred in the whole water column and increased the oil toxicity.Early exposure resulted in higher PAH uptake due to lower metabolism resulting in more severe abnormalities.A rapid and circulation-indepenent regulation of bmp10 suggested a direct oil-induced effect on calcium homeostasis.Expression of rhag indicated a direct oil-induced effect on osmoregulatory cells and osmoregulation.Severe eye abnormalities especially in the late exposure was linked to inappropriate overexpression of cyp1b in the eyes.

The Role of Temperature and Heterotrophism in Determining Crude Oil Toxicity

1975 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-83
Author(s):  
J.E.S. Graham ◽  
T.C. Hutchinson
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Aqueous Extract ◽  
Chlorella Vulgaris ◽  
Nutrient Medium ◽  
General Pattern ◽  
Growth Stimulation ◽  
Aqueous Extracts ◽  
Chlamydomonas Eugametos ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Oil Toxicity

Abstract Crude oil spills are increasingly likely to occur from drilling, pumping and transportation activities as oil development proceeds at a rapid pace. These spills may occur over the wide range of climatic conditions which obtain in Canada. Little is known of oil toxicity at different temperatures; consequently, laboratory studies were made of the variability of the toxicity of aqueous extracts of a Norman Wells crude oil to freshwater algae over the temperature range 5°C to 35°C. Two unicellular green algae were studied: Chlamydomonas eugametos and Chlorella vulgaris. Their response (measured by cell numbers) varied with temperature and species. Whereas Chlamydomonas eugametos showed a general pattern of growth inhibition by oil at all temperatures with maximum inhibition at 25°C, Chlorella vulgaris showed general growth stimulation by oil with maximum stimulation at 25°C, this temperature was chosen for all further experimentation. All experiments were done using unialgal cultures and sterile technique. Cells were grown in 50 ml of nutrient medium (BBM) in 125 ml Erlenmeyer flasks. Such flasks allow gas exchange and permit loss of volatile hydrocarbons. Aqueous extracts were made by slowly stirring 5% crude oil with the nutrient medium for six hours using a magnetic mixer. The extract was then allowed to sit for two to four hours before the lower fraction was drawn off for use. Experiments were carried out in controlled environment chambers (±2°C) with a twelve hour light-dark cycle. All further experiments used a similar methodology. (Note: Chlamydomonas eugametos experiments were carried out on a rotary shaker at 125 rpm.) An attempt was made to determine the reason for the remarkable stimulation in growth of Chlorella vulgaris #29 at 25°C. This organism has been described in the literature as heterotrophic. Thus three reasons for stimulation seemed possible: 1. heterotrophic uptake of hydrocarbons directly from solution; 2. heterotrophic uptake of organic compounds formed or released by microbial breakdown of hydrocarbons (the aqueous extract of crude was not sterile); or 3. the use of CO2 released to solution by microbial respiration. The original experiment was repeated in the dark at 20°C to determine if stimulation still occurred. It did not, since cells exposed to the aqueous extract decreased in numbers. However, after two weeks the cells were illuminated and even though experimental flasks started off with depleted populations, they outgrew the control cells within two weeks. This suggested that if stimulation was related to heterotrophism, it must, at least in this case, have been the unusual case of photoheterotrophism. The reasons for this stimulation of growth are currently under investigation. Several methods are being employed to investigate the suspected heterotrophism. Experiments will be done to determine whether light energy is essential to the stimulation. Two varieties of Chlorella vulgaris, i.e. #29 and #260 are heterotrophic and autotrophic respectively, are to be used in experiments. Sterile aqueous extracts made by pressure ultrafiltration will be used. These experiments should determine whether algal growth stimulation is related to heterotrophism or whether microbial degradation of hydrocarbons is the real source of stimulation. Although the toxicity of crude oil may be rapidly ameliorated by physical and/or biological phenomena, one must still be aware of the possibility of a large input of organic carbon causing extensive eutrophication. Thus both toxicity and eutrophication will cause a selection, in terms of survival, in a natural environment. It is evident that although an oil spill may not totally destroy an ecosystem, it will certainly alter its natural composition considerably.

scholarly journals Sacrificial amphiphiles: Eco-friendly chemical herders as oil spill mitigation chemicals

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (5) ◽  
pp. e1400265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deeksha Gupta ◽  
Bivas Sarker ◽  
Keith Thadikaran ◽  
Vijay John ◽  
Charles Maldarelli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Marine Biota ◽  
Polar Group ◽  
Branched Chain

Crude oil spills are a major threat to marine biota and the environment. When light crude oil spills on water, it forms a thin layer that is difficult to clean by any methods of oil spill response. Under these circumstances, a special type of amphiphile termed as “chemical herder” is sprayed onto the water surrounding the spilled oil. The amphiphile forms a monomolecular layer on the water surface, reducing the air–sea surface tension and causing the oil slick to retract into a thick mass that can be burnt in situ. The current best-known chemical herders are chemically stable and nonbiodegradable, and hence remain in the marine ecosystem for years. We architect an eco-friendly, sacrificial, and effective green herder derived from the plant-based small-molecule phytol, which is abundant in the marine environment, as an alternative to the current chemical herders. Phytol consists of a regularly branched chain of isoprene units that form the hydrophobe of the amphiphile; the chain is esterified to cationic groups to form the polar group. The ester linkage is proximal to an allyl bond in phytol, which facilitates the hydrolysis of the amphiphile after adsorption to the sea surface into the phytol hydrophobic tail, which along with the unhydrolyzed herder, remains on the surface to maintain herding action, and the cationic group, which dissolves into the water column. Eventual degradation of the phytol tail and dilution of the cation make these sacrificial amphiphiles eco-friendly. The herding behavior of phytol-based amphiphiles is evaluated as a function of time, temperature, and water salinity to examine their versatility under different conditions, ranging from ice-cold water to hot water. The green chemical herder retracted oil slicks by up to ~500, 700, and 2500% at 5°, 20°, and 35°C, respectively, during the first 10 min of the experiment, which is on a par with the current best chemical herders in practice.

A Test for the Wettability of Carbonate Rocks

1970 ◽  
Vol 10 (01) ◽  
pp. 3-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.M. Duyvis ◽  
L.J.M. Smits
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Carbonate Rock ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Extraction Procedure ◽  
Soxhlet Extraction ◽  
High Viscosity ◽  
Spontaneous Imbibition ◽  
Rock Surface ◽  
Test Plate ◽  
Water Saturated

Direct imbibition experiments to test carbonate-rock wettability are occasionally prevented by high viscosity of the oil or rigid films between oil and water. The oil must then be removed from the rock before the imbibition test. A new extraction procedure was tested on limestones born Middle East reservoirs. Samples were taken from rubber-sleeve cores under nitrogen in a polythene glove bag to avoid formation of surface-active compounds through oxidation of crude oil. Conventional Soxhlet extraction of crude oil made water-wet carbonate rock oil-wet. Obviously the hot, dry solvent removes the water before the oil is completely extracted; the oil then contacts the rock surface, making it oil-wet. The extraction procedure was therefore modified so that cold and water-saturated chloroform reached the sample. To remove the oil effectively, the material was crushed and then stirred vigorously during extraction. Fig. 1 shows the extraction apparatus. The chloroform in the extraction thimble was kept saturated with water by the initial addition of some water to the boiling vessel. The vapor from this vessel is then richer in water than cold, water-saturated chloroform. The alundum thimble was made oil-wet (by dimethyl dichlorosilane allowing the solvent to pass through. Blank tests with water-wet and oil-wet samples showed a 1-week test to be appropriate for the extraction. The samples were dried and the wettability was determined by imbibition. A small amount of the sample was placed as a ridge in a hollow of a test plate and was wetted with toluene. By placing plate and was wetted with toluene. By placing water and toluene on either side of the ridge, we could determine whether water displaces toluene from the sample. This can be detected easily because sample material wetted with water is much lighter than that wetted with toluene. If water was indeed imbibed the sample was water-wet. Those samples in which water was not imbibed were tested as follows:the material was mixed with watera edge was again formed in a hollow; andwater and oil were placed on either side to determine whether or not toluene displaced water. So far, we have never observed this spontaneous imbibition. We therefore mixed the fluids and the sample and observed whether the grains were now wetted by toluene (darkening of the grain surface). If so, the sample was called oil-wet. A sample showing no imbibition in either case was neutral. The reliability of the procedure was verified by subjecting limestone core samples to both dry Soxhlet extraction and our wet extraction. The parts of samples from the dry extraction were parts of samples from the dry extraction were oil-wet, and those from the wet extraction were water-wet. Thus, either the samples were originally water-wet and became oil-wet by dry extraction, or they were originally oil-wet and became water-wet through wet extraction. The oil-wet samples could not be made water-wet by subsequent prolonged wet extraction. Thus the original samples must have been water-wet. Wet extraction does change an oil-wet condition to neutral, but never to water-wet. Therefore, a sample found to be water-wet was water-wet before extraction, and a sample found to be neutral was either oil-wet or neutral before extraction. P. 3

THE DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF A FIREPROOF BOOM1

1983 ◽  
Vol 1983 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-51
Author(s):  
Ian A. Buist ◽  
William M. Pistruzak ◽  
Stephen G. Potter ◽  
Nick Vanderkooy ◽  
Ian R. McAllister
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Cold Water

ABSTRACT In situ burning of crude oil on water can be an extremely effective oil spill countermeasure, particularly in remote offshore areas and on cold water where conventional countermeasures are limited. In order for in situ burning to be an efficient mitigative technique, the oil must be contained and thickened. A novel fireproof boom has been researched, developed, and tested that can: (1) survive, without damage, long-term exposure to the heat generated by burning crude oil in situ; (2) contain burning crude oil in at least sea states up to three and at current speeds up to 0.4 m/s without loss of combustion intensity; (3) survive without damage for long periods at sea; and (4) withstand contact with small ice features.

PAHS AND OTHER CONTAMINANTS IN EFFLUENTS FROM ARTIFICIALLY WEATHERED OIL ON GRAVEL

2005 ◽  
Vol 2005 (1) ◽  
pp. 197-200
Author(s):  
Walter H. Pearson
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Aromatic Hydrocarbons ◽  
Anaerobic Biodegradation ◽  
North Slope ◽  
Pacific Herring ◽  
Fish Eggs ◽  
Oil Droplets ◽  
Developmental Abnormalities ◽  
Polycyclic Aromatic ◽  
Oil Toxicity

ABSTRACT Several recent studies report that low parts per billion (ppb) concentrations of petroleum polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are toxic to marine fish embryos and that crude oil toxicity increases as it weathers. Such claims for Pacific herring embyros derive from two experiments by Carls et al. (1999) in which herring eggs were exposed to seawater passed through gravel coated with artificially weathered Alaska North Slope crude oil. The experiments differed in the extent of weathering of the oil on gravel. Carls et al. reported that developmental abnormalities in herring embryos occur during chronic exposure to PAH levels as low as 0.4 ppb in seawater passed through the oiled gravel. Earlier studies had shown that effects are observed at low PAH levels only when oil droplets or films adhered to the herring eggs. To better understand Carls et al. experiments, we examined effluent from a gravel bed prepared following Carls et al. and report that ammonia, sulfides, and oil droplets were present in the effluent from oiled gravel generators that were shut down between two 16-day trials (as was done by Carls et al.). Oil droplets (0.5 to 1 mm) were intermittently present in effluent from oiled gravel generators even when the flow was continuous. Two hours after restarting flow, low dissolved oxygen, ammonia, and sulfides were present in the generators and in the effluent. Droplets, ammonia, and sulfides all induce developmental abnormalities of the types seen by Carls et al. The presence of ammonia and sulfide in the effluent after shutdown is a laboratory artifact and constitutes clear evidence of anaerobic biodegradation of the oil on gravel. Evidence of anaerobic biodegradation suggests that the exposure regime of Carls et al. did not effectively simulate field conditions. Our results demonstrate that the presence of confounding toxicants in the Carls et al. experiments cannot be dismissed. There is no basis to conclude that aqueous exposure to low ppb PAH levels affects herring eggs or that weathering increases oil toxicity to fish eggs without additional experiments that specifically account for the potential confounding factors and all chemicals in effluents from oiled gravel columns.

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