Development of a screening technology to predict the impacts of an oil spill to aquatic wildlife

帝国石油公司与工业界的同事正在开发一种基于被动采样的分析方法，以量化溶解的石油暴露，并有望预测石油污染对水生物种的潜在毒性。将该技术集成到溢油监测场景中，将为实际评估油田中观察到的石油暴露是否对水生生物构成风险提供一个潜在的有价值的工具。然而，该工具仍处于开发阶段，因为帝国石油公司的工程师需要与专门研究碳氢化合物毒性的生态毒理学家合作，以扩大该设备的应用范围。拟议项目的目的是开发一种用于漏油监测/响应环境的被动采样装置，同时考虑到淡水环境中的水化学和与石油风化有关的毒性变化。具体目标将是：1)**对一种加拿大鱼类（黑头鲦鱼）的新鲜和风化的冷湖混合沥青的水溶组分进行毒性分析；2)使用被动采样产生溶解油暴露表征的水溶组分；3)使用传统和新兴的基于被动采样的暴露指标建立经验剂量-反应关系。该项目将为帝国石油公司提供毒理学和碳氢化合物表征方面的专业知识，这些知识可以通过INRS的研究小组获得，并可以获得实际风化的水容纳馏分。这些资源将帮助帝国石油公司实现其企业环境政策的期望，开展和支持研究，以更好地了解其产品和运营对环境的潜在影响。

Imperial Oil with industrial colleagues are developing a passive sampling-based analytical method to quantify**dissolved oil exposures and to hopefully predict the toxic potential of oil contamination to aquatic species. The**integration of this technology into an oil spill monitoring scenario would provide a potentially valuable tool for**practically assessing if observed oil exposures in the field, pose risks to aquatic life. However, this tool is still**under development as Imperial Oil's engineers need to work with an ecotoxicologist specialized in hydrocarbon**toxicity to expand the application of the device. The aim of the proposed project is to develop a passive**sampling device in oil spill monitoring/response contexts taking into account water chemistry in freshwater**environments and changes in toxicity associated with oil weathering. The specific objectives will be to 1) to**conduct toxicity assays of water accommodated fraction of fresh and weathered Cold Lake Blend bitumen in a**Canadian fish species, fathead minnow, 2) to produce water accommodated fractions for dissolved oil exposure**characterization using passive sampling, and 3) to develop the empirical dose-response relationships using both**traditional and emerging passive sampling-based exposure metrics. This project will provide Imperial Oil with**the expertise in toxicology and hydrocarbon characterization available via the research group at INRS as well**as access to realistically weathered water accommodated fractions. These resources will help Imperial Oil meet**its corporate environmental policy expectation to conduct and support research to better understand the**potential impacts of its products and operations on the environment.