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Numerical-ecotoxicological approach to assess potential risk associated with oilfield production chemicals discharged into the sea

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Abstract

Several different chemical products are used on oil platforms to aid oil-water separation during the production process. These chemicals may enter into the sea by means of production water (PW), the main discharge derived from oil and gas offshore platforms. Consequently, toxic effects may occur in the marine environment, causing reductions in wildlife numbers, degrading ecosystem functions and threatening human health. For most of these chemicals, environmental toxicity and safety thresholds in marine ecosystems have not been fully investigated as yet. In this work, a numerical-ecotoxicological approach is proposed to assess the potential environmental risk associated with the discharge of five oilfield production chemicals (deoiler, scale inhibitor, corrosion inhibitor, catalyst, dehydrating agent) from a platform in the southern Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean Sea). Their concentrations in the seawater are numerically predicted, under different seasonal conditions, starting from the real concentrations used during the production process. The predicted concentrations are then evaluated in terms of possible toxic effects in order to assess the potential risk of oilfield production chemicals discharged into the sea.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the colleagues of ISPRA for hydrological data collection during monitoring surveys 2011–2014. The authors acknowledge comments by Marco Uttieri.

Funding

This work was partially funded by the research projects on monitoring of impacts due to produced water discharge from offshore platforms granted to ISPRA from ENI s.p.a. A scientific collaboration between ISPRA and the University of Naples “Parthenope” allowed mutual exchange of researchers’ expertise.

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Author notes

  1. Loredana Manfra and Daniela Cianelli contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ISPRA – Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Via Vitaliano Brancati 60, 00144, Rome, Italy

    Loredana Manfra, Daniela Cianelli & Rossella Di Mento

  2. Department of Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZN) Naples, Italy, Villa Comunale, 80121, Naples, Italy

    Loredana Manfra

  3. Department of Science and Technology, Università degli Studi di Napoli “Parthenope” and CoNISMa, Centro Direzionale di Napoli – Isola C4, 80143, Naples, Italy

    Enrico Zambianchi

Authors
  1. Loredana Manfra
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  2. Daniela Cianelli
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  3. Rossella Di Mento
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  4. Enrico Zambianchi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Loredana Manfra.

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Ethical statements

This research follows the ethical standards and the rules of good scientific practice. The manuscript has not been published previously nor submitted to more than one journal for simultaneous consideration. All data are original and have not been fabricated or manipulated (including images) to support our conclusions. There are no potential conflicts of interest (financial or non-financial), and the research did not involve human participants and/or animals.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Manfra, L., Cianelli, D., Di Mento, R. et al. Numerical-ecotoxicological approach to assess potential risk associated with oilfield production chemicals discharged into the sea. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 18213–18219 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2355-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2355-x

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