A Method for Assessing Environmental Risks of Oil-Mineral-Aggregate to Benthic Organisms

Abstract

ABSTRACT Previous studies have shown that Oil-Mineral-Aggregate (OMA) formation enhances the dispersion of marine oil spills, but the potential impacts of settled OMAs on benthic organisms are not well known. A comprehensive numerical approach is proposed here to model the transport of OMAs and assesses their potential risks. The predicted environmental concentrations (PEC) of settled oil in OMAs was calculated using a random walk particle tracking model and the benchmark concentrations (BCs) of individual hydrocarbon groups were computed based on a equilibrium partitioning (EqP) approach. The likely of risks in terms of Hazard Quotient (HQ) were then determined using a Monte Carlo simulation method. HQ for both aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon groups were calculated for OMAs formed with two sediments, Mississippi River Delta (MRD) and Standard Reference Material (SRM). Mean total HQs were also determined by a simple sum of individual HQ. The predicted results from a case study based on a spill of 1000 tons of South Louisiana crude oil in the Gulf of St. Lawrence with a water depth of 80 m show that the SRM is unlikely to cause adverse impacts but this may not be the case for MRD. Furthermore, it has been found that the application of chemical dispersant (CD) increased the risks of MRD but it had little effects on SRM.