MAKING, MEASURING, AND USING WATER-ACCOMMODATED FRACTIONS OF PETROLEUM FOR TOXICITY TESTING

Abstract

ABSTRACT Oil spill response can be highly affected by the perceived costs and benefits of a particular countermeasure. Responders' perceptions of these can be influenced by the means in which scientific data are collected and presented. To date, a large amount of information has been generated on the aquatic toxicity of oil, dispersants, and dispersed oil. Unfortunately, many of these data are not comparable because of differing toxicological and analytical methodologies, as well as frequent lack of analytical verification of exposures. Recently, a group of federal, state, academic, and industry representatives from North America and Europe have been working toward standardizing both biological and analytical methods used to produce acute toxicity estimates for complex mixtures such as oil, dispersants, and dispersed oil. This standardization provides guidelines for future investigations to be conducted in a sufficiently rigorous manner to allow both inter- and intra-laboratory dataset comparisons, thus providing a more coherent and robust database from which to derive response guidance. By encouraging the use of these standardizations, it is hoped that decision-makers can be provided with a clearer understanding of the acute toxicological results of oil dispersal, and that such information can be more properly integrated into the response planning and decision-making processes.