Toxicity of the Dispersant Corexit 9500 to Early Life Stages of Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus

The Deepwater Horizon well released 4.4 million barrels of light crude oil offshore of Louisiana into one of the world's largest and most productive blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) fisheries. The objectives of this paper were to determine the toxicity of the dispersant Corexit (R) 9500A used in the 2010 oil spill on juvenile and larval blue crabs, and the long-term effects of sublethal acute exposure. Only the highest treatment levels of dispersant significantly increased mortality in larval and juvenile blue crabs (100 mg/L and 1,000 mg/L, respectively). This correlated to concentrations well above levels found in the Gulf of Mexico following the spill. Smaller and younger crabs showed higher mortality than older and larger crabs. This research indicates direct application of dispersants on crab larvae could cause acute mortality, but dilution through diffusion and natural weathering processes would minimize long-term effects.