Effects of Dispersant and Oil on Survival and Swim

Authors: Jonathan H Cohen Lillian R McCormick Stephanie M Burkhardt

Publish Date: 2014/01/09

Volume: 92, Issue: 4, Pages: 381-387

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Abstract

Knowledge of lethal and sublethal effects of crude oil and dispersants on mesozooplankton are important to understanding ecosystem impacts of oil spills in marine environments Here we 1 establish median lethal concentrations for water accommodated fractions of Corexit EC9500A dispersant MC252 crude oil WAF and dispersed crude oil CEWAF for the coastal copepod Labidocera aestiva and 2 assess acute effects on L aestiva swimming activity Mortality assays with L aestiva support that copepods are more sensitive than other zooplankton taxa to dispersant toxicity while WAF and CEWAF are generally similar in their toxicity to this copepod species and other zooplankton Acute effects on L aestiva activity included impaired swimming upon WAF and CEWAF exposure These results highlight that copepods are particularly sensitive to dispersant exposure with acute effects on survival most evident with dispersant alone and on swimming behavior when dispersant is mixed with crude oilThis research was made possible by a grant from BP/The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative through the Florida Institute of Oceanography Dr Dana Wetzel conducted the TPH and PAH analyses Corexit EC9500A dispersant and MC252 crude oil were provided by Nalco and the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science respectively

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