Abstract
Following the grounding of the Sea Empress oil tanker at the entrance to Milford Haven, UK, in February 1997, samples of limpets ( Patella vulgata) were collected from local coastal sites (after 2 weeks and 4 and 7 months) and analysed for oil contamination. Initially, relatively high concentrations of volatile two and three ring aromatic hydrocarbons (up to 86 μg g −1 dry weight) were found which decreased by orders of magnitude between surveys. These results are compared with a similar study of the Braer oil spill which show a similar rapid decrease in concentrations of volatile hydrocarbons while loss of heavier components is slower. An assessment of the non-volatile fingerprint sterane hydrocarbons showed limpet samples to be contaminated with hydrocarbons but was inconclusive about the source of those hydrocarbons. Another common fingerprint, the pristane: phytane ratio was investigated but this was found to be masked by the presence of natural biogenic compounds.
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