Evaluation of the Usefulness of Biological Indicators for Detecting Petroleum Hydrocarbons in the Water Column.
Abstract
The objective of this report was to determine the utility of bio-accumulators in a line monitoring program and in assessing an oil spill cleanup by examining data obtained from the exposure of select marine organisms to crude oils in laboratory and field studies designed to simulate real world conditions. Oysters, mussels, crabs, and marshgrass were used in the laboratory studies and were subjected to oil in flow-through fiberglass tanks. Field studies were conducted in estuarine-ponds that were subjected to salinity changes. The various biological organisms were exposed in the ponds to different concentrations of oil over extended periods of time before analysis. The results of these studies do not support the use of biological monitors as the primary means of detecting petroleum hydrocarbon levels in the water column in the vicinity of a proposed deep water port site or following an oil spill cleanup. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1979
- Accession Number
- ADA072474
Entities
People
- C. Douglas Minchew
- Lewis Raymond Brown
- Melford R. Smith
Organizations
- Mississippi State University