Relationship between hydrocarbon measurements and toxicity to a chironomid, fish larva and daphnid for oils and oil spill chemical treatments in laboratory freshwater marsh microcosms

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-1-2004

Abstract

This research investigated the extent to which various common hydrocarbon measures can be used to predict toxicity to freshwater aquatic organisms due to fouling by oil. Actual toxicity results, on laboratory freshwater marsh microcosms using two water-column species and a benthic species, were described earlier. The hydrocarbon measures used were TPHg, TPHFID, TPHMS, TTAH (sum of 41 target aromatic hydrocarbons), principal components of 41 TAHs, and each individual TAH. In general, toxicity was more closely related to TPHMS levels than to TPHFID and (especially) TPHg levels. The strongest relationships were found for TTAH levels and for the principal components of the TAHs. Regressions of toxicity on many individual TAHs were also strong, with a single group of compounds explaining as much as 59% of the variation in survival. While the various regressions were highly significant statistically and at times able to accurately predict broad differences in toxicity, the high variation in survival at a specific hydrocarbon concentration indicates that these hydrocarbon measures can not substitute for actual toxicity determinations in accurately ranking the toxicity of samples from oiled freshwater marshes. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Environmental Pollution

First Page

345

Last Page

353

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