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Bioassays for the toxicity of petroleum oils in chicken embryos
Author(s) -
Couillard Catherine M.,
Leighton Frederick A.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.5620100414
Subject(s) - bioassay , toxicity , petroleum , biology , acute toxicity , toxicology , incubation , crude oil , bay , chemistry , ecology , biochemistry , geology , petroleum engineering , paleontology , organic chemistry , oceanography
Applications of 1 μl to 30 μl of six different petroleum oils were made to the shell of fertile leghorn chicken eggs on day 9 of incubation. Mortality and grossly visible morphological changes in the embryos were evaluated 4 d after treatment. South Louisiana crude oil and fuel oil No. 2 were the less toxic of the oils tested, with LD25s of 14.1 and 8.5 μl/egg. The LD25s of Arabian Light, Federated, Norman Wells and Prudhoe Bay crude oils ranged from 3.6 to 4.4 μl/egg. Liver necrosis and edema were found in embryos exposed to the six petroleum oils, suggesting a common mechanism of toxic action. The similarity in mechanism of action was also supported by the similarity of the slopes of the dose‐response lines. The use of liver necrosis as an end point for bioassays of oil toxicity was evaluated. The ED25s ranged from 3.6 μl/egg for Federated crude oil to 23.0 μl/egg for fuel oil No. 2. Estimates of the ED25 for liver necrosis could discriminate among the toxicity of the six oils better than could estimates of the LD25 test. There was a good correlation between the two calculations. The ED25 was more reliable and consistent than the LD25 test when bioassays were repeated several times with the same oil.