Acute and subchronic toxicity of naturally weathered Exxon Valdez crude oil in mallards and ferrets
- ENSR Consulting and Engineering, Fort Collins, CO (United States)
- Bayer Corp., Stilwell, KS (United States)
- Utah Biomedical Test Lab., Salt Lake City, UT (United States)
- Michigan State Univ., East Lansing (United States)
The toxic properties of naturally weathered Exxon Valdez crude oil (WEVC) were assessed in a battery of acute and subchronic toxicity tests using mallards, Anas platyrhynchos, and European ferrets, Mustela putorius. Adult mallard acute oral toxicity study results indicated no mortalities or signs o toxicity, i.e., no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) and median lethal dose (LD50) > 5,000 mg/kg. Acute oral feeding and food avoidance tests with ducklings also indicated no toxicity (NOAEL and LC50 > 50,000 mg/kg diet) with no evidence of food avoidance (FAC50 > 20,000 mg/kg diet). No mortalities or toxic signs were noted in a 14-d feeding study with adult birds at dietary concentrations up to 100,000 mg WEVC/kg diet. Among clinical and physiological end points evaluated, the only significant difference noted was an increase in liver: body weight ratios in the 100,000-mg WEVC/kg diet dose group. No differences in clinical chemistry or hematological parameters were noted, and there were no consistent differences in histological evaluations of organ tissues. Daily oral doses of up to 5,000 mg/kg of WEVC over 5 d resulted in minimal effects on ferrets. Increased serum albumin concentrations were observed in the 5,000-mg/kg dose group females and decreased spleen weights were noted in females of all WEVC treatment groups. No other significant observations were noted.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 136752
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Journal Name: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 14; ISSN 0730-7268; ISSN ETOCDK
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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