title: The effects of oil pollution on Antarctic benthic diatom communities over 5 years.
abstract: Although considered pristine, Antarctica has not been impervious to hydrocarbon pollution. Antarctica's history is peppered with oil spills and numerous abandoned waste disposal sites. Both spill events and constant leakages contribute to previous and current sources of pollution into marine sediments. Here we compare the response of the benthic diatom communities over 5 years to exposure to a commonly used standard synthetic lubricant oil, an alternative lubricant marketed as more biodegradable, in comparison to a control treatment. Community composition varied significantly over time and between treatments with some high variability within contaminated treatments suggesting community stress. Both lubricants showed evidence of significant effects on community composition after 5 years even though total petroleum hydrocarbon reduction reached approximately 80% over this time period. It appears that even after 5 years toxicity remains high for both the standard and biodegradable lubricants revealing the temporal scale at which pollutants persist in Antarctica.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 129, Hobart 7001, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Polmear
authors.affiliation: Australian Antarctic Division, Channel Hwy, Kingston 7050, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Stark
authors.affiliation: Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.affiliation: Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 129, Hobart 7001, Tasmania, Australia. Electronic address: Andrew.mcminn@utas.edu.au.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McMinn
mesh_terms: D000864:Antarctic Regions; D017377:Diatoms / Q000187:drug effects*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D010578:Petroleum / Q000633:toxicity*; D059392:Petroleum Pollution; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D006838:Hydrocarbons; D010578:Petroleum; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Antarctica; Benthic diatoms; Biodegradable lubricant; Hydrocarbon