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Sublethal biological effects and chemical contaminant monitoring of Sullom Voe (Shetland) using mussels (Mytilus edulis)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

John Widdows ,
Peter Donkin ,
Sheila V. Evans ,
David S. Page  and
Peter N. Salkeld
John Widdows
Affiliation:
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, West Hoe, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, England
Peter Donkin
Affiliation:
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, West Hoe, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, England
Sheila V. Evans
Affiliation:
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, West Hoe, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, England
David S. Page
Affiliation:
Bowdoin College Hydrocarbon Research Center, Brunswick, Maine, 04011, USA
Peter N. Salkeld
Affiliation:
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, West Hoe, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, England
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Synopsis

Mussels (Mytilus edulis), collected from up to nine sites, were used to monitor the degree of chemical contamination (by petroleum hydrocarbons and organotins) and the associated sublethal biological effects (scope for growth) in the vicinity of the North Sea oil terminal at Sullom Voe from 1982 to 1989. Gluss Voe represented a ‘clean reference’ site at which mussels showed a very low level of contamination and a consistently high ‘scope for growth’ (>20 J g−1 h−1). Spatial and temporal changes in the concentration of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in the mussel tissues reflected the major sources of oil inputs and the number and size of oil spillages around the tanker loading jetties. Hydrocarbon concentrations in mussels at the oil tanker jetties were typically 10-fold higher than mussels at Gluss Voe. The concentrations of tributyltin in the tissues were greatest in the area near the tanker jetties and showed a steady decline between 1986 and 1989 which correlated with a decline in tanker activity (r = +0.98).

The results demonstrated a significant correlation between the net quantity of oil spilled during the month prior to sampling and the accumulated aromatic hydrocarbons in the mussel tissues (r = +0.89). In addition, there was a significant negative relationship between scope for growth and the log concentration of aromatic hydrocarbons in the mussel tissues (r = −0.83). Toxicological interpretation of tissue residue data indicated that the decline in SFG was caused by accumulated PAHs rather than TBT. Although mussels showed a significant reduction in scope for growth in Sullom Voe they were still able to grow, reproduce and maintain their populations. When these results are placed in a wider geographical context and compared with other UK sites, it is apparent that the ‘clean reference’ site in the Shetland has the lowest recorded levels of organic contaminants, and that other sites in the vicinity of the Sullom Voe Oil Terminal are less contaminated and impacted than many estuaries on the UK mainland.

Type
Part Two
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences , Volume 103: Monitoring at an Oil Terminal: The Shetland Experience , 1995 , pp. 99 - 112
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1995

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