Long-term effects of an early-life exposure of fathead minnows to sediments containing bitumen. Part I: Survival, deformities, and growth

Autor: Richard A. Frank, Joanne L. Parrott, W.P. Norwood, C. Yang, Zhendi Wang, M. Bree, Caroline Vignet, Mark E. McMaster, Cheryl Sullivan, L.M. Hewitt, K. Shires
Přispěvatelé: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Taiyuan University of Technology, Funding for the research was from the Joint Oil Sands Monitoring Plan collaboration between Environment and Climate Change Canada and Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development.
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Zdroj: Environmental Pollution
Environmental Pollution, Elsevier, 2019, 251, pp.246-256. ⟨10.1016/j.envpol.2019.05.007⟩
ISSN: 0269-7491
1873-6424
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2019.05.007⟩
Popis: International audience; The aim of this study was to investigate the long-term effects of a short exposure to natural sediments within the Athabasca oil sand formation to critical stages of embryo-larval development in fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas). Three different sediments were used: Ref sediment from the upper Steepbank River tested at 3 g/L (containing 12.2 ng/g ∑PAHs), and two bitumen-rich sediments tested at 1 and 3 g/L; one from the Ells River (Ells downstream, 6480 ng/g ∑PAHs) and one from the Steepbank River (Stp downstream, 4660 ng/g ∑PAHs). Eggs and larvae were exposed to sediments for 21 days, then transferred to clean water for a 5-month grow-out and recovery period. Larval fish had significantly decreased survival after exposure to 3 g/L sediment from Stp downstream, and decreased growth (length and weight at 16 days post hatch) in Ells and Stp downstream sediments at both 1 and 3 g/L. Decreased tail length was a sensitive endpoint in larval fish exposed to Ells and Stp downstream sediments for 21 days compared to Ref sediment. After the grow-out in clean water, all growth effects from the bitumen-containing sediments recovered, but adult fish from Stp downstream 3 g/L sediment had significant increases in jaw deformities. The study shows the potential for fish to recover from the decreased growth effects caused by sediments containing oil sands-related compounds, but that some effects of the early-life sediment exposure occur later on in adult fish.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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