United States Department of Transportation
i
Susceptibility of eastern oyster early life stages to road surface polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
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2012-06-01
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Edition:Final report.
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Abstract:Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of chemical compounds that are mostly
anthropogenic in nature, and they can become persistent organic contaminants in aquatic
ecosystems. Runoff from impervious surfaces is one of the many ways contaminants enter the
aquatic realm. Three different PAH concentrations were used to investigate the effects on oysteregg
fertilization, embryonic transformation to the D-shell veliger larva, and larvae settlement onto
hard substrate. The three different concentrations of PAHs ranged from one that is
environmentally relevant to the concentrations found in runoff from road surfaces, another that
was tenfold more concentrated, and finally one that was one hundred times more concentrated.
The extremely concentrated solution had negative effects on fertilization success after one hour of
exposure, while the lesser concentrations showed significant deleterious effects after two hours of
exposure. All of the three PAH solutions caused significant numbers of abnormalities in the
embryonic transformation of embryos to D-stage larvae. Finally, the two more concentrated PAH
solutions significantly inhibited the oyster larvae in successfully setting on the hard substrate.
This study‟s results provide evidence that PAHs entering an aquatic ecosystem from runoff from
road surfaces have the potential to inhibit oyster reproduction by negatively impacting three
critical processes in the early life cycle of the Eastern oyster.
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