The effect of temperature on the composition and relative toxicity of the water-soluble fraction of Kuwait crude oil (export) in the seawater

The effect of temperature on the composition of the water-soluble fraction (WSF) of Kuwait crude oil was investigated. The results showed that the WSF consisted of mostly monoaromatic (BTEX) compounds. The total concentration of volatiles in the WSF was about 7.5 mg/l. The increase in the temperatur e from 15 degrees C to 25 degrees C caused an increase of about 10% and to 35 degrees C did not significantly affect the total concentration. GC-MS an alysis of the concentrated extract of the WSF resulted in the identificatio n of nine PAHs and six methylated PAHs. The total concentration of the PAHs ranged from 0.217 mg/l to 0.634 mg/l. The PAHs increased significantly wit h increasing temperature. Naphthalene and methylated naphthalenes constituted about 95% of the total PAHs. Microtox assay of the WSF showed that the relative toxicity increased when the temperature was increased from 15 degrees to 25 degrees C. Increa sing temperature further to 35 degrees C did not effect the relative toxici ty.