The toxicity to Corophium volutator (Pallas) of beach sand contaminated by a spillage of crude oil

The beaching of oil from a tanker spillage off the south-west coast of England raised concern about possible biological impacts, especially in a nearby estuary. Sediment samples were taken from several sites for chemical determination of total hydrocarbon concentrations and bioassay testing with the amphipod Corophium volutator. Two of the potentially impacted sites were measurably contaminated with oil, but mortality of C. volutator was significantly elevated only at the most contaminated site. Significantly higher levels of narcotisation were evident in test animals exposed to sediment from a supposedly uncontaminated reference site which was found to contain relatively high concentrations of oil from another source.