PUBLICATION

Toxicity of Weathered Sediment-Bound Dilbit to Early Life Stages of Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Authors
Everitt, S., Fujita, K.K., MacPherson, S., Brinkmann, M., Pyle, G.G., Wiseman, S.
ID
ZDB-PUB-210116-10
Date
2021
Source
Environmental science & technology   55(3): 1721-1729 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Alberta
  • Animals
  • Oil and Gas Fields
  • Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons*/toxicity
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical*/analysis
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical*/toxicity
  • Zebrafish
PubMed
33449613 Full text @ Env. Sci. Tech.
Abstract
Due to high viscosity, bitumen extracted from the Alberta oil sands is diluted with natural gas condensates to form diluted bitumen (dilbit) to facilitate transport through pipelines. Dilbit that is spilled into or near a waterbody is subject to environmental weathering processes such as evaporation and interaction with sediments. This is the first study that assessed the toxicity of weathered sediment-bound dilbit (WSD) to fish early life stages. Exposure of zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos to water-soluble fractions (WSFs) or water-accommodated fractions (WAFs) of WSD from 30 min to 120 h postfertilization resulted in pericardial edema, yolk sac edema, and incidences of uninflated swim bladder. The presence of oil-mineral aggregates (OMAs) in the WAFs greatly increased toxicity, despite all fractions having similar concentrations of dissolved polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). There were greater cyp1a mRNA abundances in larvae exposed to WAFs, suggesting that there were differences in bioavailability of PAHs between fractions. However, there was little evidence that embryotoxicity was caused by oxidative stress. Results suggest that evaporation and sediment interaction do not completely attenuate toxicity of dilbit to zebrafish early life stages, and OMAs in exposures exacerbate toxicity.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping