Abstract
As a consequence of the 1991 Gulf War, a substantial amount of crude oil (CO) and partially combusted crude oil (PCO) were emitted into the environment. Therefore, the study objective was to evaluate the toxicity of the water soluble fraction (WSF) of CO and PCO on a fish, Menidia beryllina and an invertebrate, Palaemonetes pugio in 16-d flow-through tests. Specific growth rate (SGR) was studied as a function of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPHC) concentration in water. Reductions in SGR were observed in fish exposed to PCO and CO WSFs, with TPHC water concentration being 10-fold higher in CO exposures (67–145 μg/L) than in PCO exposures (4–12 μg/L). Significant negative correlations were observed between TPHC concentration and fish SGR in both CO (r2=0.730) and PCO (r2=0.867) exposures, with the slope being significantly lower for PCO exposures (−0.169) than CO exposures (−0.009). Differences between CO and PCO toxicity were not as clear in shrimp exposures due to slow growth rates and variability in TPHC concentrations. Qualitative PAH analysis indicated that naphthalene was present in the CO WSF whereas chrysene and benzo(a)pyrene were present in the PCO WSF. Heavy metal analysis of concentrated stock solutions indicated that the PCO WSF had substantially higher concentrations of some metals (Sr=2,521 μg/L, B=556 μg/L, and Ba=130 μg/L) than the CO WSF in which concentrations were less than 55 μg/L. Fish and shrimp tissue analysis did not reveal any uptake of parent PAH compounds from the water, which may be attributed to the formation of PAH metabolites.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Al-Beshara J, Salman M, Al-Matrouk F (1992) Characterization and qualification of reclaimable oil from oil lakes formed in Kuwait oil field, Report No 4081. Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait, pp 67–78
Al-Yakoob SN, Al-Sudairawi MM, Nasrallah HA, Al-Majed N (1993) Adsorption of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons onto inhalable particulate matter during the Kuwait oil fires. J Environ Sci Health A28(8):1781–1793
Al-Yakoob SN, Saeedt S, Al-Hashash H (1993) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in edible tissue of fish from the Gulf after the 1991 oil spill. Mar Pollut Bull 27:297–301
Anderson JW, Neff JM, Cox BA, Tatem HE, Hightower GM (1974) Characteristics of dispersions and water-soluble extracts of crude and refined oils and their toxicity to estuarine crustaceans and fish. Mar Biol 27:75–88
Anderson JW, Riley RG, Bean RM (1978) recuitment of benthic animals as a function of petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations in the sediment. J Fish Res Board Can 35(5):776–790
Bean RM, Blaylock JW, Sutton EA, Wildung RE, Davidson FM (1974) Characterization of sediments in the vicinity of offshore petroleum production. Am Chem Soc Div Petrol Chem 19(4):726–735
Bligh EG, Dyer WJ (1959) A ripid method of total lipid extraction and purification. Can J Biochem Physiol 37:911–917
Boylan DB, Tripp BW (1971) Determination of hydrocarbons in seawater extracts of crude oil and crude oil fractions. Nature 230:44–47
Chadwick GG, Palensky JR Shumway DL (1972) Continuous-flow dilution apparatus for toxicity studies. Proc of the Pacific NW industrial waste management conference. Portland, OR, pp 101–105
Connell DW, Miller GW (1984) Petroleum and related hydrocarbons. In: Metcalf RL, Strum W (eds) John Wiley and Sons, New York, pp 238–249
Dauble DD, Fallon WE, Gray RH, Bean RM (1982) Effects of coal liquid water soluble fractions on growth and survival of four aquatic organisms. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 11:553–560
Ellenton JA (1982) Teratogenic activity of aliphatic and aromatic fractions of Prudoe Bay crude oil and fuel oil No. 2 in the chicken embryo. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 63:209–215
Emmery KO (1956) Sediments and water of the Persian Gulf. Bull Am Assoc Petrol Geol 40:2354–3383
Foda MA, Khalaf FI, Al-Kadi AS (1985) Estimation of dust fallout rates in the northern Arabian Gulf. Sedimentology 32:595–603
Hoffman DJ (1979) Embryotoxic and teratogenic effects of petroleum hydrocarbons in mallards. J Toxicol Environ Health 5:835–844
Hoffman DJ, Gay ML (1981) Embryotoxic effects of benzo(a)pyrene, chrysene, 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene in petroleum hydrocarbon mixtures in mallard ducks. J Toxicol Environ Health 7:775–787
Huang XD, Dixon GD, Greenberg BM (1993) Impacts of UV radiation and photomodification on the toxicity of PAHs to the higher plant Lemna gibba (Duckweed). Environ Toxicol Chem 12:1067–1077
Lee RF, Gardner WS, Anderson LW, Blaylock JW, Barwell-Clarke J (1978) Fate of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in controlled ecosystem enclosures. Environ Sci Technol 12:832–838
Madany IM, Al-haddad A, Jaffar A, Al-Shirbini ES (1994) Spatial and temporal distributions of aromatic petroleum hydrocarbons in the costal waters of Bahrain, Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 26: 185–190
May WE (1980) The solubility behavior of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in aqueous systems. In: Petrakis L, Weiss FT (eds), Petroleum in the marine environment. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, pp 143–192
McDonald SJ, Mahlon KC, Brooks JM (1992) Evidence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure in fish from the Antarctic peninsula. Mar Pollut Bull 25:313–317
Ott L (1988) An introduction to statistical methods and data analysis, third edition. PWS-Kent Publishing Company, Boston
Payne JR, Phillips CR (1985) Photochemistry of petroleum in water. Environ Sci Technol 19:569–579
Peakall DB, Hallett DJ, Bend JR, Foureman GL, Miller DS (1982) Toxicity of Prudoe Bay crude oil and its aromatic fractions to nestling herring gulls. Environ Res 27:206–215
Picer M, Picer N (1993) Evaluation and modifications of the simple spectroflurometric method for estimating petroleum hydrocarbon levels in sea water. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 50:802–810
Sadiq M, Al-Thagafi KM, Milan AA (1992) Preliminary evaluation of metal contamination of soils from the Gulf War activities. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 49:633–639
Sadler K, Lynam S (1987) Some effects on the growth of brown trout from exposure to aluminum at different pH levels. J Fish Biol 31:209–219
Sinnhuber RO, Hendricks JD, Wales JH, Putnam GB (1977) Neoplasms in rainbow trout. Annals NY Acad Sci 298:389–408
Solangi MA, Overstreet RM (1982) Histopathological changes in two estuarine fishes, Menidia beryllina (Cope) and Trinectes maculatus (Bloch and Schneider), exposed to crude oil and its water soluble fractions. J Fish Diseases 5:13–35
Statgraphics (1986) Statistical graphics system by statistical graphics corporation. STSC Inc.
Stegman JJ, Hahn ME (1994) Biochemistry and molecular biology of monooxygenases: Current perspectives on forms, functions, and regulation of cytochrome P450 in aquatic species. In: Malins DC, Ostrander GK (eds) Aquatic toxicology: molecular, biochemical, and cellular perspectives. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL, pp 87–206
Thorhang A (1992) The environmental future of Kuwait. In: Al-Shatti AK, Harrington JM (eds), Proceedings of the international symposium on the environmental and health impacts of the Kuwaiti oil fires. The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston UK pp 69–72
Varanasi U, Stein JE, Nishimoto M (1989) Biotransformation and disposition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in fish. In: Varanasi U (ed) Metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the aquatic environment. CRC Press Inc., Boca Raton, FL, pp 93–149
WMO (World Meteorological Organization) (1991) Executive summary of the meeting of experts on the atmospheric part of joint U.N. response to the Kuwait oil field fires. Geneva, pp 27–30
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gundersen, D.T., Kristanto, S.W., Curtis, L.R. et al. Subacute toxicity of the water-soluble fractions of Kuwait crude oil and partially combusted crude oil on Menidia beryllina and Palaemonetes pugio . Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 31, 1–8 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00203901
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00203901