Technical considerations regarding toxicity testing of commercial bioremediation agents
- Univ. of South Australia, Adelaide (Australia)
- Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ., Blacksburg, VA (United States)
- Univ. of Pittsburgh Applied Research Center, PA (United States)
The toxicological evaluation of commercial bioremediation agents (CBAs) for use on oil spills is under consideration by the USEPA. Currently, acute and chronic bioassays are conducted with the CBA alone and with CBA that has been diluted with the water soluble fraction (WSF) of a crude oil. Endpoints are expressed as a concentration of the CBA. This approach may not address the toxicological issue of CBA use since it (1) does not determine if the CBA affects toxicity of the oil itself, and (2) does not consider temporal aspects associated with byproducts of oil degradation. The present study was conducted to address these issues. A CBA was mixed with unweathered crude oil from 1 to 42 days. The WSF of the mixture was then drawn off and acute bioassays were conducted with silverside minnows, Menidia beryllina, and mysid shrimp, Mysidopsis bahia. For silversides, 96-hr LC50 values ranged from 42.7% WSF after 1 day mixing to 10.5% after 42 days. Toxicity increased sharply between days 4 and 7 when the 96-hr LC50 dropped from 39.0 to 18.2% WSF. A similar trend occurred for mysid shrimp. The presence of the CBA caused a more rapid increase in the toxicity of the oil as compared to bioassays in which oil was mixed alone and then tested. These data indicate that the interaction of CBAs with oil, and associated temporal trends in toxicity, are important aspects to consider in hazard evaluation of these products. The current proposed CBA toxicity testing protocol does not effectively address these issues.
- OSTI ID:
- 460537
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-961149-; TRN: IM9718%%118
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 17. annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry: partnerships for the environment - science, education, and policy, Washington, DC (United States), 17-21 Nov 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of SETAC 17. annual meeting -- Abstract book. Partnerships for the environment: Science, education, and policy; PB: 378 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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