Evidence of hepatotoxicity in the sand lizard Acanthodactylus scutellatus from Kuwait's Greater Al-Burgan oil field.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of oil pollution in a desert location (the Greater Al-Burgan oil fields, an area damaged in the Gulf War in 1991) in Kuwait on the hepatotoxicity of the Sand lizard Acanthodactylus scutellatus (A. scutellatus). Twenty lizards (10 of each sex) from each polluted and each control sites were collected. Livers were removed from dissected animals and ready for fixation by Bouin's solution and formal-saline. Twenty sections (10 from males and 10 from females) from each tar mat (polluted) and control sites were prepared and examined for cell diameter and nuclear measurements using Cell Analysis Systems. The cytology of hepatocytes showed normal appearance in samples from the control sites. Dead cells were abundant in the sections of lizard livers from the tar mat sites and occurred in notably greater numbers than the sections of livers of animals from the control sites. Examinations of the data confirm that the cell and nuclear diameters in liver samples of males collected from polluted sites were generally greater than those of corresponding females. The liver sections obtained from animals in the tar mat site had greater cellular diameters than counterparts from control sites. Females from the polluted sites were also affected by oil pollution by having larger hepatocyte diameters and their nuclei were also affected, being larger than female nuclei from the control sites. The most remarkable feature observed in hepatocytes of lizards collected from the tar mat sites were swelling of hepatocytes, ballooning degeneration of hepatic cytoplasm and cell death. This study confirmed that the prolonged exposure to oil pollution may result in increased accumulation of contaminants and may cause severe liver pathology in a range of wild organisms such as A. scutellatus.

Effects of oil pollution at Kuwait's greater Al-Burgan oil field on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations in the tissues of the desert lizard Acanthodactylus scutellatus and their ant prey.

Using indicator species to monitor the effects of oil pollution was thought to be useful to assess whether local desert reptiles and their insect prey could fulfill such a role in an area damaged in the second Gulf War (1990). Polluted sites with apparently different degrees of contamination (namely tar mat, soot, and clear sites) located at Kuwait's Greater Al-Burgan oil field were compared with control areas outside this region in study conducted in 2002. Five Acanthodactylus scutellatus lizards from each study and control site were humanely killed and stored in a freezer at -20 degrees C until analysis. Ants from the same sites were also collected and treated in a similar manner. Lizard and ant whole body tissues were subjected to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to determine concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons (HCs). The study concentrated on sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), EPA priority pollutants used as indicators of petrogenic HC contamination. There were significantly different concentrations of total PAHs in lizards and ants among all four study sites. Of the 16 PAHs, phenanthrene, fluoranthene, and benzo[a]anthracene were present in both lizard and ant samples from the Greater Al-Burgan oil field sites irrespective of the apparent degree of pollution but were undetectable in materials from the control sites. The range of total PAHs in lizards was 26.5-301 ng g(-1) and it was 6.7-82.1 ng g(-1) in ants. Concentrations increased progressively along an expected contamination gradient. Total PAHs were detected in biota even in an area (clear site) that did not appear, virtually, to contain petroleum soil pollution which supports the value of indicator biota species. For all three sites where PAHs were found in biota, the ratio of total PAHs in ants to lizards was consistently 3.3-3.4. These data show that, although 12 years have passed since the Kuwait oil spill catastrophe, all sites are still contaminated with PAHs. Use of lizard and ant materials in monitoring such desert locations seems to be an effective strategy.