Soaking up the oil: Biological impacts of dispersants and crude oil on the sponge Halichondria panicea

J Vad; F Dunnett; F Liu; C C Montagner; J M Roberts; T B Henry

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127109

Soaking up the oil: Biological impacts of dispersants and crude oil on the sponge Halichondria panicea

Chemosphere. 2020 Oct:257:127109. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127109. Epub 2020 May 18.

Authors

J Vad¹, F Dunnett², F Liu³, C C Montagner⁴, J M Roberts⁵, T B Henry⁶

Affiliations

¹ Changing Oceans Research Group, Grant Institute, School of Geosciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; Institute of Life and Earth Sciences, School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK. Electronic address: johanne.vad@ed.ac.uk.
² Institute of Life and Earth Sciences, School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK.
³ Institute of Life and Earth Sciences, School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK; Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban, UK.
⁴ Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
⁵ Changing Oceans Research Group, Grant Institute, School of Geosciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
⁶ Institute of Life and Earth Sciences, School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK; Center for Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Tennessee, Tennessee, USA.

PMID: 32497834
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127109

Abstract

Used during an oil spill to minimise the formation of an oil slick, dispersants have negative biological effects on marine model organisms. However, no study has investigated the impacts of dispersants on adult sponge individuals. Here, we examine the effects of water accommodated oil fraction (WAF - oil in seawater), chemically enhanced WAF (CEWAF - oil and dispersant in seawater) and Benzo[A]Pyrene on sponge Halichondria panicea at physiological and molecular levels. Sponge clearance rate decreased sharply when exposed to WAF and CEWAF but the oil loading at which the clearance rate was reduced by 50% (ED50) was 39-fold lower in CEWAF than in WAF. Transcriptomic analysis revealed a homogenous molecular response with the greatest number of differentially expressed genes identified in CEWAF samples (1,461 genes). Specifically, genes involved in stress responses were up-regulated. This study presents evidence that the use of dispersants should be considered carefully in areas where sponges are present.

MeSH terms

Animals
Environmental Restoration and Remediation*
Petroleum / analysis*
Petroleum / metabolism
Petroleum Pollution / analysis*
Porifera / physiology*
Seawater
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*
Water Pollutants, Chemical / metabolism

Substances

Petroleum
Water Pollutants, Chemical