Lethal and behavioural impacts of diesel and fuel oil on the Antarctic amphipod Paramoera walkeri

• Published in: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
• Main Authors: Brown, Kathryn E, King, Catherine K, Harrison, Peter Lynton
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: ePublications@SCU 2017
• Subjects: Environmental Sciences; Antarctic; Ifo; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://epubs.scu.edu.au/esm_pubs/3204; https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.3778

Toxicity testing with Antarctic species is required for risk assessment of fuel spills in Antarctic coastal waters. The lethal and sub-lethal (movement behaviour) sensitivity of adults and juveniles of the Antarctic amphipod Paramoera walkeri to the water accommodated fractions (WAF) of three fuels were estimated in extended duration tests at -1°C to 21 d. Response of P. walkeri for lethal hydrocarbon concentrations was slow, with LC50s first able to be estimated at 7 d for adults exposed to Special Antarctic Blend diesel (SAB), which had the highest hydrocarbon concentrations of the three fuel WAFs. Juveniles showed greater response to marine gas oil (MGO) and intermediate residual fuel oil (IFO 180) at longer exposure durations and were most sensitive at 21 d to IFO 180 (LC50 = 12 µg/L). Adults were initially more sensitive than juveniles; however, at 21 d juveniles were more than twice as sensitive as adults to SAB (LC50 = 153 µg/L and 377 µg/L respectively). Significant effects on movement behaviour were evident at earlier time points and lower concentrations than was mortality in all three fuel WAFs, and juveniles were highly sensitive to sub-lethal effects of MGO. These first estimates of Antarctic amphipod sensitivity to diesel and fuel oils in seawater contribute to development of ecologically relevant water quality guidelines for management of hydrocarbon contamination in the region. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.