Persistence of oiling in mussel beds after the Exxon Valdez oil spill

• Published in: Marine environmental research Vol. 51; no. 2; pp. 167 - 190
• Main Authors: Carls, M.G, Babcock, M.M, Harris, P.M, Irvine, G.V, Cusick, J.A, Rice, S.D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2001; Elsevier
• Subjects: Alaska; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Bivalvia - chemistry; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Environmental Pollutants - analysis; Environmental Pollutants - pharmacokinetics; Exxon Valdez; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geologic Sediments - chemistry; Gulf of Alaska; Hydrocarbons, Aromatic - analysis; Hydrocarbons, Aromatic - pharmacokinetics; Marine; Marine and brackish environment; Monitoring; Mussels; Mytilus trossulus; Oil spills; Petroleum - analysis; Petroleum hydrocarbons; Prince William Sound; Time Factors; Tissue Distribution; USA, Alaska, Prince William Sound; Pacific Ocean; Gulf of Alaska; North Pacific; Alaska; INE, USA, Alaska, Alaska Gulf; INE, USA, Alaska, Alaska Gulf, Prince William Sound; Petroleum hydrocarbons; Prince William Sound; Mussels; Exxon Valdez; Mytilus trossulus; Gulf of Alaska; Monitoring; Oil spills; Oil spill; Benthic organism; Hydrocarbon; Concentration; Sediments; Multiyear variation; Marine environment; Persistence; Pollutant; Tissue; Bivalvia; Invertebrata; Mollusca; Environmental monitoring
• ISSN: 0141-1136; 1879-0291
• DOI: 10.1016/S0141-1136(00)00103-3

Persistence and weathering of Exxon Valdez oil in intertidal mussel ( Mytilus trossulus) beds in Prince William Sound (PWS) and along the Gulf of Alaska was monitored from 1992 to 1995. Beds with significant contamination included most previously oiled areas in PWS, particularly within the Knight Island group and the Kenai Peninsula. In sediments, yearly mean concentrations of total petroleum hydrocarbons ranged from <60 μg/g in reference beds to 62,258 μg/g wet wt., or approximately 0 to 523 μg/g dry wt. total polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (TPAHs). In mussels, mean TPAH concentrations ranged up to 8.1 μg/g dry wt. Hydrocarbon concentrations declined significantly with time in some, but not all mussels and sediments, and should reach background levels within three decades of the spill in most beds. In 1995, mean hydrocarbon concentration was greater than twice background concentration in sediments from 27 of 34 sites, and in mussels from 18 of 31 sites.