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Use of dispersant in mudflat oil-contaminated sediment: behavior and effects of dispersed oil on micro- and macrobenthos

  • DECAPAGE Project: Hydrocarbon degradation in coastal sediments*
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Abstract

The present study aimed to examine whether the use of dispersant would be suitable for favoring the hydrocarbon degradation in coastal marine sediments without impacting negatively micro- and macrobenthic organisms. Mudflat sediments, maintained during 286 days in mesocosms designed to simulate natural conditions, were contaminated or not with Ural blend crude oil (REBCO) and treated or not with third-generation dispersant (Finasol OSR52). While the dispersant did not lead to an increase of hydrocarbon biodegradation, its use enables an attenuation of more than 55 % of the sediment concentration of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH). Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) correlating T-RFLP patterns with the hydrocarbon content and bacterial abundance indicated weak differences between the different treatments except for the mesocosm treated with oil and dispersant for which a higher bacterial biomass was observed. The use of the dispersant did not significantly decrease the macrobenthic species richness or macroorganisms’ densities in uncontaminated or contaminated conditions. However, even if the structure of the macrobenthic communities was not affected, when used in combination with oil, biological sediment reworking coefficient was negatively impacted. Although the use of the dispersant may be worth considering in order to accelerate the attenuation of hydrocarbon-contaminated mudflat sediments, long-term effects on functional aspects of the benthic system such as bioturbation and bacterial activity should be carefully studied before.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the support of the French program ANR DECAPAGE (project ANR-CESA-2011-006 01). We also would like to thank all partners of the DECAPAGE project. We acknowledge the Regional Platform for Environmental Microbiology PREMICE supported by the Aquitaine Regional Government Council (France) and the urban community of Pau-Pyrénées (France). We acknowledge B. Bouyssiere, M. S. Goñi-Urriza, J. Gury, F. Terrisse, and J. Abella for technical assistance during sampling campaign, S. Dejoie for macrofauna analyses, and C. Gassie for T-RFLP analyses.

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Author notes

  1. Philippe Cuny

    Present address: Aix-Marseille Université, Bâtiment Méditerranée, Case 901, 13009, Marseille, Cédex 9, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aix Marseille Université, CNRS/INSU, Université de Toulon, IRD, Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO), UM 110, 13288, Marseille, France

    Philippe Cuny, Cécile Militon, Georges Stora, Patricia Bonin, Valérie Michotey & Sophie Guasco

  2. INP, UPS; EcoLab (Laboratoire écologie fonctionnelle et environnement), Université de Toulouse, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse, France

    Franck Gilbert

  3. CNRS, EcoLab, 31062, Toulouse, France

    Franck Gilbert

  4. Centre de Documentation, de Recherche et d’Expérimentations sur les pollutions accidentelles des Eaux, Brest, France

    Karine Duboscq & Ronan Jézéquel

  5. Equipe Environnement et Microbiologie, MELODY group, Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, IPREM UMR CNRS 5254, BP 1155, 64013, Pau Cedex, France

    Christine Cagnon, Cristiana Cravo-Laureau & Robert Duran

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  1. Philippe Cuny
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  2. Franck Gilbert
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Correspondence to Philippe Cuny.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Cuny, P., Gilbert, F., Militon, C. et al. Use of dispersant in mudflat oil-contaminated sediment: behavior and effects of dispersed oil on micro- and macrobenthos. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 15370–15376 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4800-4

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