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Biomarkers have the potential to be used to assess the impact of anthropogenic discharges in marine waters. We have used a suite of biomarkers spanning from enzymatic to histopathological alterations and general stress responses to assess the short- and long-term impact on mussels Mytilus edulis of heavy fuel oil no. 6 and styrene. Mussels were exposed for 5 months, with a refilling of the exposure system, to a water soluble fraction of heavy fuel and, then, kept for a month in clean water for recovery. In a second experiment, mussels were exposed to styrene for 19 days and maintained in clean water for up to 4 months. Chemical body tissue levels reflected the weathering processes of these compounds. Acyl-CoA oxidase activity was induced in oil-exposed mussels after refilling, whereas styrene inhibited it after 19 days of exposure and after 2 weeks in clean water. Gamete development and alkali-labile phosphate levels suggest that neither oil nor styrene behaved as endocrine disruptors. Neutral red retention time was lower in treated groups than in controls. Lysosomal membrane stability was significantly reduced in exposed groups and recovered after withdrawal of oil but not after removal of styrene. Neither oil nor styrene exposure affected the condition index except for the reduction seen in mussels exposed to oil for 1 month. Biomarker response index discriminated exposed mussels, which showed higher values, and returned to control levels after recovery. Results obtained from these pilot experiments can help to identify relevant monitoring tools to assess the impact of oil and chemicals in marine spill scenarios.

Ocean acidification (OA) resulting from anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide (CO(2)) has already lowered and is predicted to further lower surface ocean pH. There is a particular need to study effects of OA on organisms living in cold-water environments due to the higher solubility of CO(2) at lower temperatures. Mussel larvae (Mytilus edulis) and shrimp larvae (Pandalus borealis) were kept under an ocean acidification scenario predicted for the year 2100 (pH 7.6) and compared against identical batches of organisms held under the current oceanic pH of 8.1, which acted as a control. The temperature was held at a constant 10°C in the mussel experiment and at 5°C in the shrimp experiment. There was no marked effect on fertilization success, development time, or abnormality to the D-shell stage, or on feeding of mussel larvae in the low-pH (pH 7.6) treatment. Mytilus edulis larvae were still able to develop a shell in seawater undersaturated with respect to aragonite (a mineral form of CaCO(3)), but the size of low-pH larvae was significantly smaller than in the control. After 2 mo of exposure the mussels were 28% smaller in the pH 7.6 treatment than in the control. The experiment with Pandalus borealis larvae ran from 1 through 35 days post hatch. Survival of shrimp larvae was not reduced after 5 wk of exposure to pH 7.6, but a significant delay in zoeal progression (development time) was observed.

Abstract: Mussels (Mytilus edulis) were continuously exposed to dispersed crude oil (0.015–0.25mg/l) for 7months covering the whole gamete development cycle. After 1month exposure to 0.25mgoil/l, the level of alkali-labile phosphates (ALP) and the volume density of atretic oocytes in female gonads were higher than those in the gonads of control females, indicating that oil affected the level of vitellogenin-like proteins and gamete development. Spawning of mussels was induced after 7months oil exposure. Parental oil exposure did not affect subsequent fertilization success in clean seawater but this was reduced in 0.25mgoil/l. Parental exposure to 0.25mgoil/l caused both slow development and a higher percentage of abnormalities in D-shell larvae 2days post-fertilization; reduced growth 7days post-fertilization. These effects were greatly enhanced when larval stages were maintained at 0.25mgoil/l. Similar studies are warranted for risk assessment prognosis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Within the frame of a large environmental study, we report on a research program that investigated the potential for bioaccumulation and subsequent effect responses in several marine organisms exposed to chronic levels of dispersed crude oil. Body burden can be estimated from kinetic parameters (rate constants for uptake and elimination), and appropriate body burden--effect relationships may improve assessments of environmental risks or the potential for such outcomes following chronic discharges at sea. We conducted a series of experiments in a flow-through system to describe the bioaccumulation kinetics of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) at low concentrations of dispersed crude oils. Mussels (Mytilus edulis) and juvenile turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) were exposed for periods ranging from 8 to 21 d. Postexposure, the organisms were kept for a period of 9 to 10 d in running seawater to study elimination processes. Rate constants of uptake (k1) and elimination (k2) of the PAHs during and following exposure were calculated using a first-order kinetic model that assumed a decrease of the substances in the environment over time. The estimated bioconcentration factor was calculated from the ratio of k1/k2. The kinetic parameters of two-, three-, and four-ring PAHs in mussel and fish are compared with estimates based on hydrophobicity alone, expressed by the octanol-water partition coefficient, Kow (partitioning theory). A combination of reduced bioavailability of PAHs from oil droplets and degradation processes of PAHs in body tissues seems to explain discrepancies between kinetic rates based on Kow and actual kinetic rates measured in fish. Mussels showed a pattern more in compliance with the partitioning theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Despite the extensive transport of chemicals at sea, there is current lack of knowledge of the fate and effects of many of them on the marine biota. The current regulation that follows the GESAMP–MARPOL classification is mainly based on ecotoxicity assessment from fresh water based studies. Repetitive spills in marine coastal environment from tanker ship loaded with several thousand tonnes of chemicals raised concern about whether the existing freshwater data location can be used to predict the behaviour and the environmental effects of contaminants in marine surroundings. There is a general lack of information of the fate of chemicals at sea. A deviating pattern in marine environment from that in freshwater may have significant consequences for the counteracting actions taken to fight the spill, on staff working on the site of spill as well as on marine life present in the vicinity of the accident. In the present article, an environmental effect study of styrene was conducted as part of the ECOPEL program. We report some biological effects of styrene in laboratory-exposed marine organisms. Styrene was continuously supplied at a nominal concentration of 2mgL−1 over 7 days to both mussels (Mytilus edulis) and fish (Symphodus mellops). At the end of this period, DNA damage was assessed by the Comet assay performed on blood (fish) and haemolymph (mussel) cells. In mussels, the lysosomal membrane stability was additionally assessed by the neutral red retention time assay (NRRT). Significant biological responses were observed over the studied period in both organisms with these two tests. Hence, the results favour the use of a biomarker-based approach to assess the health conditions in case of spill. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]