Toxicity of Dispersant Corexit 9500A and Crude Oil to Marine Microzooplankton
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 106 (2014) 76–85 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecoenv Toxicity of dispersant Corexit 9500A and crude oil to marine microzooplankton Rodrigo Almeda n, Cammie Hyatt, Edward J. Buskey Marine Science Institute, University of Texas at Austin, 750 Channel View Drive, Port Aransas, TX 78373, United States article info abstract s Article history: In 2010, nearly 7 million liters of chemical dispersants, mainly Corexit 9500A, were released in the Gulf Received 1 February 2014 of Mexico to treat the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. However, little is still known about the effects of Received in revised form Corexit 9500A and dispersed crude oil on microzooplankton despite the important roles of these 17 April 2014 planktonic organisms in marine ecosystems. We conducted laboratory experiments to determine the Accepted 20 April 2014 acute toxicity of Corexit 9500A, and physically and chemically dispersed Louisiana light sweet crude oil to marine microzooplankton (oligotrich ciliates, tintinnids and heterotrophic dinoflagellates). Our results Keywords: indicate that Corexit 9500A is highly toxic to microzooplankton, particularly to small ciliates, and that Crude oil the combination of dispersant with crude oil significantly increases the toxicity of crude oil to Corexit 9500A dispersant microzooplankton. The negative impact of crude oil and dispersant on microzooplankton may disrupt Toxicity the transfer of energy from lower to higher trophic levels and change the structure and dynamics of Marine microzooplankton Deepwater Horizon oil spill marine planktonic communities. Environmental pollution & 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction pollution (Walsh, 1978; Graham et al., 2010). More than 90 percent of the biological processes in the ocean are due to planktonic The recent Deepwater Horizon (DWH) Oil spill in the Gulf of organisms (Hays et al., 2005), and attempts to assess the ecological Mexico (2010), the world's largest accidental release of crude oil impact of oil spills in marine environments require a good under- into the ocean in history (National Commission, 2011), has standing of the effects of crude oil pollution on planktonic increased public awareness and concerns about environmental communities. Most of the research on plankton and crude oil impacts of marine crude oil spills. During the last decades, the interactions has been focused on bacteria, phytoplankton and rising demand for global energy and petroleum products have led some large zooplankton (mesozooplankton) (Walsh, 1978, Kuiper to an increase of crude oil pollution in the sea, which is becoming and Van den Brink, 1987; Jiang et al., 2010, 2012) whereas other a major environmental problem (Kennish, 1996; National Research planktonic groups, such as microzooplankton (20–200 mm, Council, 2003; Dalsøren et al., 2007). Petroleum or crude oil Sieburth et al., 1978) have received little attention. The scarce pollution in the sea arises from multiple anthropogenic sources, information on the effects of crude oil on microzooplankton including urban and industrial wastewater, spillages from tanker contrasts with the fact that microzooplankton are key components accidents, and leakages during drilling operations or marine of marine plankton communities (Calbet, 2008). Marine micro- transportation (National Research Council, 2003). Most accidental zooplankton, which include many protists, such as ciliates and crude oil spills in the world have occurred in coastal areas and, heterotrophic dinoflagellates, as well as some small metazoans even though catastrophic oil spills are not the most important (e.g. copepod nauplii) play a pivotal role in marine food webs as source of petroleum introduced into the sea (National Research the major consumers of phytoplankton (Calbet, 2008), as impor- Council, 2003), the sudden discharge of high concentrations of tant components of the microbial loop (Azam et al., 1983), and as petroleum in marine environments has harmful effects on marine essential contributors to the diet of mesozooplankton and fish ecosystems (Kennish, 1996; National Commission, 2011; Barron, larvae (Gifford, 1991; Holt and Holt, 2000; Calbet and Saiz, 2005). 2012; White et al., 2012). Therefore, given the important role of microzooplankton in Among the biological components of marine ecosystems, planktonic communities, knowledge of the interactions between planktonic organisms are particularly vulnerable to crude oil crude oil and microzooplankton is essential for a better under- standing of the effects and ecological impact of crude oil spills on marine food webs. n Corresponding author. Most crude oil toxicological studies on plankton have been E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (R. Almeda). conducted using the water soluble fraction of crude oil, or certain http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2014.04.028 0147-6513/& 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. R. Almeda et al. / Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 106 (2014) 76–85 77 Fig. 1. Microscopy images of the protozoa species used in this study to determine the toxicity of crude oil, dispersant and dispersant-treated crude oil on microzooplankton. (A) Strombidium sp, (B) Spirostrombidium sp, (C) Eutintinnus pectinis, (D) Favella ehrenbergii, (E) G. spirale, (F) P. divergens, (G) O. marina, (H) Protoceratium sp. mixed or individual dissolved petroleum hydrocarbons (Barata et al., and chemically dispersed crude oil on planktonic organisms are 2005; Calbet et al., 2007; Saiz et al., 2009; Echeveste et al., 2010; rare despite increasing evidence that this dispersant is highly toxic Jiang et al., 2010, 2012). However, in the natural environment, after a (Goodbody-Gringley et al., 2013; Rico-Martinez et al., 2013; crude oil spill, petroleum is present in the water column in both Almeda et al., 2013a, Cohen et al., 2014) and increases the toxicity dissolved and particulate forms (i.e. crude oil droplets). Plumes of of crude oil to marine zooplankton (Goodbody-Gringley et al., small crude oil droplets generated by wind and waves or by 2013; Rico-Martinez et al., 2013; Almeda et al., 2013a). To our treatment with chemical dispersants (Lichtenthaler and Daling, knowledge, there are not any published laboratory studies on the 1985; Delvigne and Sweeney, 1988; Mukherjee and Wrenn, 2009) effects of Corexit 9500A and dispersed crude oil on marine are frequently observed after crude oil spills, as occurred in the microzooplankton despite their important roles in marine sys- Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (Kerr, 2010). These tems. Therefore, there is a need for more research into the effects dispersed crude oil droplets are frequently in the food size spectra of of this type of dispersant on microzooplankton to better evaluate many zooplankters and there is evidence some zooplankton groups the impact of using chemical dispersants on plankton commu- (Conover, 1971; Mackie et al., 1978; Lee et al., 2012) and epibenthic nities after crude oil spills. ciliates (Andrews and Floodgate, 1974; Lanier and Light, 1978)ingest In this study we aimed to estimate the toxicity of physically and crude oil droplets suspended in the water column. However, little is chemically dispersed Louisiana light sweet crude oil and disper- known about the toxic effects of ingesting dispersed crude oil sant Corexit 9500 on marine microzooplankton. For this purpose, droplets by marine microzooplankton. we conducted laboratory exposure experiments to determine the In 2010, nearly 7 million liters of dispersants, mainly Corexits acute effects of crude oil alone, dispersant alone, and dispersant- 9500A, were discharged in the Gulf of Mexico to treat the Deep- treated crude oil on the population growth rates of marine water Horizon crude oil spill (TFISG-OBCSET, 2010). This release of oligotrich ciliates (Strombidium sp, Spirostrombidium sp), tintinnids large volumes of chemical dispersants, the largest known applica- (Eutintinnus pectinis, Favella ehrenbergii) and heterotrophic dino- tion of dispersants in the sea in response to a crude oil spill (Wise flagellates (Gyrodinium spirale, Protoperidinium divergens, Oxyrrhis and Wise, 2011), has also raised new concerns regarding the marina, Protoceratium sp) (Fig. 1). These species belong to some of toxicity and the impact of dispersants and dispersed oil on marine the most representative genera of marine microzooplankton in the ecosystems. Dispersants, which are mainly composed of solvents marine environment, including the Gulf of Mexico, which is and surfactants (i.e. surface active agents), reduce the interfacial considered a ‘hot spot' for crude oil spills given the intense tension between crude oil and water, allowing the formation of petroleum industry activity carried out in this area. small crude oil droplets (o100 mm), and consequently enabling the removal/dilution of crude oil slicks from the surface waters (Canevari, 1978; Lichtenthaler and Daling, 1985; Mukherjee and 2. Methodology Wrenn, 2009). New types of dispersants (e.g. Corexit) are less toxic than older types, which caused a devastating impact on marine life The microzooplankton species used in this study are indicated in Table 1. Microzooplankton samples were collected from the Aransas Ship Channel near the as observed in the Torrey Canyon (1967) and Sea Empress (1996) University of Texas Marine Science Institute (MSI) in Port Aransas (Texas) except oil spills