Produced water (PW) is the main discharge from the offshore oil industry and contains oil-derived compounds such as poly-aromatic hydrocarbons, phenols, alkylphenols, and heavy metals. Studies suggest that PW discharges may affect the biota over larger areas from the oil drilling sites at sea than originally predicted. We investigated the effects of chronic exposure to PW on some aspects of juvenile Atlantic cod immunity, stress response and growth by intermittently exposing fish to 0, 100 or 200 ppm of PW for 22 weeks. No significant effects of PW were observed on growth, hepatosomatic index, condition factor or plasma cortisol. The respiratory burst (RB) of circulating leukocytes was significantly elevated in the 100 ppm group only, while the RB of head-kidney leukocytes was significantly decreased in both the 100 and 200 ppm groups. Significant up-regulation of the mRNA expression of beta-2-microglobulin, immunoglobulin-M light chain and interleukins-1beta and -8 was observed in the 200 ppm group, while the down-regulation of interferon stimulated gene 15 was obvious for both the 100 and 200 ppm groups. The results suggest that chronic exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of PW causes modulations of the immune system of juvenile Atlantic cod with most immune parameters being stimulated, potentially resulting in an energetic cost that may be detrimental to the fish.
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