Plastic bags for stable storage of the water-soluble fraction of crude petroleum used in aquatic environment toxicity and tainting studies.

Abstract

Each year, an estimated 4,000,000 t of petroleum enter the marine environment through sea and land based discharges, atmospheric fall-out and other events. Aromatic petroleum hydrocarbons are tainting components of crude petroleum, and are potentially toxic because they are relatively soluble in water. Depending on concentration, they are also carcinogenic. Many laboratory studies have been conducted with marine organisms, both vertebrates and invertebrates, to assess the effects of the water-soluble fraction (WSF) of petroleum hydrocarbons with respect to physiology, toxicity, and tainting. When such experiments are conducted in a controlled water environment, the WSF is generally used, rather than specific hydrocarbons. This fraction has traditionally been prepared immediately before carrying out the experiment, or in several batches during the study, sometimes with results confused by erratic concentrations. Any procedure to store large amounts of WSF for long periods without changes in the composition would increase the feasibility and reproducibility of long-term studies. As part of an ongoing project which needs large volumes of WSF of constant composition to study the tainting effect of WSF on adult Atlantic salmon, we compared two different storage systems for the stability of contained WSF over time. 14 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab.