Evaluating promulgated refinery effluent standards using artificial streams.

Two-week tests on an Artificial Refinery MIxture (ARM) were conducted on periphyton communities on glass slides in laboratory streams. ARM components, which are present in "typical" refinery effluents, approximate maximum allowable concentrations as promulgated by the 1977 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) guidelines for refinery effluents. ARM concentrations tested ranged from approximately 0.25 to 5 times full strength. The nontaxonomic structural parameters--ash-free dry weight, chlorophyll a, and ATP--indicated that ARM concentrations of 1 to 5X stimulated periphyton colonization rates. ARM concentrations of 0.25 to 5X caused a shift in dominant periphytic algae from diatoms in reference streams to green algae in dosed streams; this resulted in higher pH levels in reference streams, apparently related to photosynthetic activity. Changes in nontaxonomic structural parameters of slides precolonized with periphyton were not sensitive water quality indicators. Dry weight was not a useful biomass indicator due to high levels of suspended solids in ARM. The promulgated 1977 guidelines may be adequate to maintain nontaxonomic structural integrity of periphyton communities, while the 1983 guidelines appear to be adequate to maintain taxonomic integrity.

The effects of a simulated refinery effluent on the grass shrimp, Palaemonetes pugio.

Duplicate static bioassays were conducted using a simulated refinery effluent on the grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio, Hippolyte sp.) with the LC-50 values recorded at 4-, 8-, 24-, 48-, and 96-hr intervals. The stimulated refinery effluent contained phenol (0.10 mg/L), sulfide (0.17 mg/L), chromium (0.25 mg/L), ammonia (10 mg/L), No. 2 fuel oil (10 mg/L), and kaolinite (20 mg/L). This arbitrary reference mixture (ARM) contains approximately the concentration of compounds recommended by EPA for 1977. Of the six ARM components, No. 2 fuel oil was the most toxic followed in decreasing order by sulfide, ammonia, phenol, chromium, and kaolinite. Temperature was the most important environmental variable affecting short term toxicity of the ARM to the grass shrimp. Light intensity, photo-period, and salinity had no significant effect. There was no difference in sensitivity of grass shrimp collected from five locations along the gulf and eastern coasts of the United States. Similarly, there was no difference in the response of two grass shrimp genera, Palaemonetes and Hippolyte to the ARM and there was no differences among the three species of Palaemonetes tested. In comparing the sensitivities of the two genera of grass shrimp and the pinfish (Lagodon rhombroides) to the ARM, the grass shrimp were more sensitive.

The effects of a simulated refinery effluent and its components on the estuarine crustacean, Mysidopsis bahia.

The acute and chronic toxicities of a simulated refinery effluent and its components to Mysidopsis bahia were examined. The 96 hr LC50 for M. bahia was 4.7% of the Artificial Refinery Mixture (ARM). The mysid was more sensitive than an estuarine fish and grass shrimp, as well as 17 freshwater organisms previously tested. Fuel oil was the most toxic component of the ARM (96 hr LC50 0.73 mg/l) and contributed disproportionately to the toxicity of the mixture. Chronic exposure to 2.7% of the ARM formulation resulted in growth inhibition by day 8 and reproductive impairment. Long-term exposure to the 96 hr LC10 had deleterious effects on growth and/or reproduction for each component tested.