title: Environmental harm assessment of a wastewater discharge from Hammerfest LNG: a study with biomarkers in mussels (Mytilus sp.) and Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua).
abstract: Biologically treated wastewater (WW) from the Hammerfest LNG (liquefied natural gas) plant is discharged to the sea. A study using biomarkers in mussels and Atlantic cod was performed to examine whether this discharge meets a zero harmful emission requirement. Caging of mussels close to the outfall and exposure of mussels and fish to WW in the laboratory were conducted, and a suite of contaminant responsive markers was assessed in exposed animals. In mussels the markers included chemical contaminant levels, haemocyte lysosomal instability and nucleus integrity, cellular energy allocation, digestive gland and gonad histopathology and shell-opening behaviour. In fish, biliary PAH metabolites and gill histopathology biomarkers were measured. A consistent cause-effect relationship between WW treatments and markers measured in test animals was not found. The results therefore indicate that the WW emission is unlikely to represent a significant stress factor for the local marine environment under the conditions studied.
authors: IRIS - International Research Institute of Stavanger, N-4068 Stavanger, Norway. Jonny.Beyer@niva.no
authors: Jonny
authors: J
authors: Beyer
authors: Nadia
authors: N
authors: Aarab
authors: Anne Helene
authors: AH
authors: Tandberg
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Ingvarsdottir
authors: Shaw
authors: S
authors: Bamber
authors: Jan Fredrik
authors: JF
authors: Børseth
authors: Lionel
authors: L
authors: Camus
authors: Roger
authors: R
authors: Velvin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D048389:Gadus morhua / Q000378:metabolism; D049878:Mytilus / Q000378:metabolism; D059206:Natural Gas; D009664:Norway; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D018570:Risk Assessment; D062065:Wastewater / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D059206:Natural Gas; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical