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

Abstract

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 thenmore » filtered. The results of the tests are discussed in relation to the likely patterns of dilution offshore in the North Sea.« less