RELATIONSHIPS AMONG PETROLEUM REFINING, WATER AND SEDIMENT CONTAMINATION, AND FISH HEALTH

Water, sediment, and fish were sampled from three streams that were re ceiving or had received effluents from oil refineries. Water and sedim ent samples were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Eac h stream contained aromatic carbons including substituted benzenes and naphthalenes, which are related to oil refinery operations. Fish were identified, counted, and examined for external lesions. Lengths and w eights were recorded for older bullhead catfish, and their livers were examined histologically. Differences were seen in the diversity and a bundance of fish among the upstream, impacted (effluent-receiving), an d downstream stations. In one stream, differences in liver pathology w ere observed between reference bullhead, collected from an upstream st ation, and those collected at impacted stations with more than 50% of the bullheads taken from impacted stations having some sort of patholo gical change, including one with a liver clear-cell focus, which is co nsidered a preneoplastic lesion in rodents. These data suggest a corre lation between contamination of water and sediments with aromatic hydr ocarbons, presumably from refinery effluents, and compromised fish hea lth.