Journal
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Volume 129, Issue 2, Pages 555-561Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.10.030
Keywords
Oil; Dispersants; Dispersibility; Biodegradation; Seawater
Funding
- Norwegian Research Council Petromaks2 program [228271-E30]
- oil company Statoil Petroleum AS
- oil company ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway AS
- oil company AkerBP ASA
- oil company TOTAL E P Norge ASA
- oil company ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS
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Chemical dispersants are well-established as oil spill response tools. Several studies have emphasized their positive effects on oil biodegradation, but recent studies have claimed that dispersants may actually inhibit the oil biodegradation process. In this study, biodegradation of oil dispersions in natural seawater at low temperature (5 degrees C) was compared, using oil without dispersant, and oil premixed with different concentrations of Slickgone NS, a widely used oil spill dispersant in Europe. Saturates (nC10-nC36 alkanes), naphthalenes and 2- to 5-ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were biotransformed at comparable rates in all dispersions, both with and without dispersant. Microbial communities differed primarily between samples with or without oil, and they were not significantly affected by increasing dispersant concentrations. Our data therefore showed that a common oil spill dispersant did not inhibit biodegradation of oil at dispersant concentrations relevant for response operations.
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