Acute and chronic toxicity of produced water from a North Sea oil production platform to the calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa

Journal Article · Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1989 · Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01701759· OSTI ID:6992133

Girling, A E ^[1]

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1. Shell Research Limited, Kent (England)

The routine operation of offshore oil production platforms results in the discharge to the sea of produced water after it has been separated from oil drawn from the reservoir. Discharge of produced water in the UK sector of the North Sea is given an exemption from the provisions of the 1971 Prevention of Oil Pollution Act providing the monthly average oil-in-water content measured twice per day does not exceed 40 mg kg{sup {minus}1}. To assess the toxic hazard to marine organisms of produced water discharged to the North Sea, within this exemption, Shell UK Exploration and Production has implemented a research program. Methods for determining the acute and chronic toxicity of produced water to the marine calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa have been established and applied at Shell's Sittingbourne Research Centre to samples from the Shell/Esso Dunlin A platform. This paper describes the methods used to assess acute and chronic toxicity and the results of tests performed on a sample of produced water collected in February 1986. Tests were performed on subsamples of the bulk sample which: (a) were untreated (b) had been filtered and (c) biodegraded (i.e., organic substances present in the produced water were degraded by micro-organisms) and then filtered. The results of the tests are discussed in relation to the likely patterns of dilution offshore in the North Sea.

• OSTI ID: 6992133
• Journal Information: Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology; (USA), Vol. 43:2; ISSN 0007-4861
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
PETROLEUM
BIODEGRADATION
WASTE WATER
TOXICITY
ACUTE EXPOSURE
CHRONIC EXPOSURE
COPEPODS
NORTH SEA
OFFSHORE DRILLING
SEPARATION EQUIPMENT
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
ARTHROPODS
ATLANTIC OCEAN
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CRUSTACEANS
DECOMPOSITION
DRILLING
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INVERTEBRATES
LIQUID WASTES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
SEAS
SURFACE WATERS
WASTES
WATER
020900* - Petroleum- Environmental Aspects