U.S. Department of the Interior |
FOR RELEASE: | January 1999 | ||||
Assessment of PAH Composition of Diesel Fuel Sorbed to
Marine Sediments and Their Toxicity to Aquatic Food Webs
OCS Report MMS 98-0057
The Minerals Management Service (MMS), Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, announces the availability of a new study report, Assessment of PAH Composition of Diesel Fuel Absorbed to Marine Sediments and Their Toxicity to Aquatic Food Webs. This report provides information about the fate and effects of diesel fuel on the sediments and food webs of salt marshes. This study examined the influence of sublethal exposure to sediment-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) on the physiological condition, activity, and abundance of sedimentary bacteria. This project provided useful information to MMS in determining the impacts on salt marshes of oil and gas activity from the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).
Bacterial microcosms were established in the laboratory from sediment taken from a shallow creek-fed pond in the Terrebonne Bay estuary. Under laboratory conditions, bacteria in the sediment rapidly removed PAH, suggesting that even if the marsh were exposed to chronically high levels of petroleum hydrocarbons, chemical evidence of the contaminants would not be detected in sediments. Collectively, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that the bacterial community in the studied salt marsh has adapted to chronic exposure to petroleum hydrocarbons.
For more information about the Environmental Studies Program, contact the Environmental Sciences Section (MS 5430), 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394, telephone (504) 736-2789.
You can obtain copies of the report from the Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, at a charge of $3.00 by referencing OCS Study MMS 98-0057. You will be able to obtain this report also from the National Technical Information Service in the near future. Here are the addresses. You may also inspect copies at selected Federal Depository Libraries.
Minerals Management Service Gulf of Mexico OCS Region Public Information Office (MS 5034) 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394 Telephone requests may be placed at (504) 736-2519 or 1-800-200-GULF or FAX: (504) 736-2620 INTERNET: http://www.mms.gov/ |
U.S. Department of Commerce National Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, Virginia 22161 (703) 487-4650 or FAX: (703) 321-8547 Rush Orders: 1-800-336-4700 |
MMS is the Federal agency that manages the Nation's natural gas, oil, and other mineral resources on the OCS; and collects, accounts for, and last year disbursed about $6 billion in revenues from Federal offshore mineral leases and from onshore mineral leases on Federal and Indian lands.
-MMS-GOM-
MMS Internet website address: http://www.mms.gov/
24 hour Fax-on-Demand Service: (202) 219-1703
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Last updated on Tuesday, May 11, 1999.