The effect of chemical dispersion and temperature on the metabolic and cardiac responses to physically dispersed crude oil exposure in larval American lobster (Homarus americanus).

Despite their potential vulnerability to oil spills, little is known about the physiological effects of petroleum exposure and spill responses in cold-water marine animal larvae. We investigated the effects of physically dispersed (water-accommodated fraction, WAF) and chemically dispersed (chemically enhanced WAF, CEWAF; using Slickgone EW) conventional heavy crude oil on the routine metabolic rate and heart rate of stage I larval American lobster (Homarus americanus). We found no effects of 24-h exposure to sublethal concentrations of crude oil WAF or CEWAF at 12 °C. We then investigated the effect of sublethal concentrations of WAFs at three environmentally relevant temperatures (9, 12, 15 °C). The highest WAF concentration increased metabolic rate at 9 °C, whereas it decreased heart rate and increased mortality at 15 °C. Overall, metabolic and cardiac function of American lobster larvae is relatively resilient to conventional heavy crude oil and Slickgone EW exposure, but responses to WAF may be temperature-dependent.

Newly Hatched Stage I American Lobster (Homarus americanus) Survival Following Exposure to Physically and Chemically Dispersed Crude Oil.

Standard model species are commonly used in toxicity tests due to their biological and technical advantages but studying native species increases the specificity and relevance of results generated for the potential risk assessment to an ecosystem. Accounting for intraspecies variability and other factors, such as chemical and physical characterization of test medium, is necessary to develop a reproducible bioassay for toxicity testing with native species. In this study, larval stage I American lobster (Homarus americanus), a commercially important and native species of Atlantic Canada, was used as the test species. Toxicity tests were first conducted by exposing lobster larvae to a reference toxicant of copper sulphate (CuSO4) and then to physically and chemically (using Corexit 9500A) dispersed oil (WAF and CEWAF, respectively). The effect on larval survival was estimated by calculating the 24-h median effect concentration (24-h EC50), and there was no difference between WAF or CEWAF exposure when the results are reported on a total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) basis. The 24-h EC50s ranged from 2.54 to 9.73 mg TPH/L when all trials (n = 19) are considered together. The HC5 (hazardous concentration for 5 per cent of the population) value was 2.52 mg TPH/L and similar to the EC50 value when all trials were pooled. To evaluate the reproducibility of the lobster toxicity tests, inter-trial variability was determined, and the resultant coefficients of variation (%CV) were compared to those reported for two standard test species, mysid shrimp (Americamysis bahia) and inland silverside (Menidia beryillina). This comparison showed that the %CV for the lobster toxicity tests were lower than those for the standard species tests indicating that the described larval lobster toxicity bioassay produces reliable and repeatable results.

Assessing the effects of textile leachates in fish using multiple testing methods: From gene expression to behavior.

The textile industry, while of major importance in the world economy, is a toxic industry utilizing and emitting thousands of chemical substances into the aquatic environment. The aim of this project was to study the potentially harmful effects associated with the leaching of chemical residues from three different types of textiles: sportswear, children's bath towels, and denim using different fish models (cell lines, fish larvae and juvenile fish). A combination of in vitro and in vivo test systems was used. Numerous biomarkers, ranging from gene expression, cytotoxicity and biochemical analysis to behavior, were measured to detect effects of leached chemicals. Principle findings indicate that leachates from all three types of textiles induced cytotoxicity on fish cell lines (RTgill-W1). Leachates from sportswear and towels induced mortality in zebrafish embryos, and chemical residues from sportswear reduced locomotion responses in developing larval fish. Sportswear leachate increased Cyp1a mRNA expression and EROD activity in liver of exposed brown trout. Leachates from towels induced EROD activity and VTG in rainbow trout, and these effects were mitigated by the temperature of the extraction process. All indicators of toxicity tested showed that exposure to textile leachate can cause adverse reactions in fish. These findings suggested that chemical leaching from textiles from domestic households could pose an ecotoxicological threat to the health of the aquatic environment.