SUBACUTE TOXICITY OF THE WATER-SOLUBLE FRACTIONS OF KUWAIT CRUDE-OIL AND PARTIALLY COMBUSTED CRUDE-OIL ON MENIDIA-BERYLLINA AND PALAEMONETES-PUGIO

As a consequence of the 1991 Gulf War, a substantial amount of crude o il (GO) and partially combusted crude oil (PCO) were emitted into the environment. Therefore, the study objective was to evaluate the toxici ty of the water soluble fraction (WSF) of CO and PCO on a fish, Menidi a beryllina, and an invertebrate, Palaemonetes pugio, in 16-d flow-thr ough tests. Specific growth rate (SGR) was studied as a function of to tal petroleum hydrocarbon (TPHC) concentration in water. Reductions in SGR were observed in fish exposed to PCO and CO WSFs, with TPHC water concentration being 10-fold higher in CO exposures (67-145 mu g/L) th an in PCO exposures (4-12 mu g/L). Significant negative correlations w ere observed between TPHC concentration and fish SGR in both CO (r(2) = 0.730) and PCO (r(2) = 0.867) exposures, with the slope being signif icantly lower for PCO exposures (-0.169) than CO exposures (-0.009). D ifferences between CO and PCO toxicity were not as clear in shrimp exp osures due to slow growth rates and variability in TPHC concentrations . Qualitative PAH analysis indicated that naphthalene was present in t he CO WSF whereas chrysene and benzo(a)pyrene were present in the PCO WSF. Heavy metal analysis of concentrated stock solutions indicated th at the PCO WSF had substantially higher concentrations of some metals (Sr = 2,521 mu g/L, B = 556 mu g/L, and Ba = 130 mu g/L) than the CO W SF in which concentrations were less than 55 mu g/L. Fish and shrimp t issue analysis did not reveal any uptake of parent PAH compounds from the water, which may be attributed to the formation of PAH metabolites .