The detection of petroleum in the environment requires the same technical opera- 

 tions used by organic geochemists in investigations of the chemical fate of biogenic 

 material in a geological setting, similar to the work of those using geochemical tech- 

 niques to prospect for petroleum. Thus it is not surprising that some of the first and 

 best studies of petroleum in the marine environment came from established geo- 

 chemistry laboratories. The late Max Blumer recognized the problem of oil in the 

 environment and applied his knowledge and experience to dealing with it. Blumer 

 et al. (1970) made a detailed study of the fate of 4, 400 barrels of No. 2 fuel oil that was 

 lost in a spill in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. These workers called the attention of 

 the scientific community to several general points: 



• Based on their composition, fuel oils are especially hazardous. 



• Fuel oils can penetrate sediment and remain for months and years. 



• Organisms can take up and retain aromatic hydrocarbons. 



• Routine gas chromatographic methods are suitable for marine pollution events. 



These observations may seem casual now but in 1969 they had an impact. 



Farrington and Quinn (1973) demonstrated that low levels of petroleum hydro- 

 carbons are present in the sediment and clams of Narragansett Bay and that sewage 

 effluents and small oil spills are probably sources. Similar patterns of hydrocarbons 

 were reported for New York Bight sediments (Farrington and Tripp, 1977). This 

 suggests that in some circumstances petroleum can build up in offshore sediments. 

 MacLeod et al. ( 1976) found a gradient of petroleum hydrocarbon concentration at 

 two sites in the Strait of Juan de Fuca which was related to known upstream seepage. 

 The presence of arenes (aromatic hydrocarbons) was stated to be the strongest evi- 

 dence. Gearing et al. (1976) attribute the levels of hydrocarbons detected in the 

 northeast Gulf of Mexico sediments to natural sources except for sites located near 

 the Mississippi River. In general A?-alkanes are not good indicator molecules for 

 petroleum pollution because they are also natural products. However, using the 

 planktonic blue-green algae, Trichodesmium sp. with a known simple //-alkane 

 pattern. Parker et al. ( 1972) were able to show that massive natural blooms of the 

 algae had become associated with a suite of /z-alkanes derived from petroleum (Table 

 3). 



A 4-year comprehensive study of petroleum hydrocarbons in water, biota, and 

 sediment from the south Texas shelf was made by Parker, Giam, Winters, and 

 Scalan (Parker et al., 1976). Several hundred samples were analyzed, and, with only 

 a few exceptions, the levels of petroleum derived hydrocarbons were so low as to be 

 undetectable. Neuston and some zooplankton tows showed unresolved humps in 

 their GC and the presence of aromatic hydrocarbons, both of which indicate petro- 

 leum. This pollution is due to micro-tarballs that at times were taken near the sur- 

 face. The study reached its goal, which was to affirm that the baseline level was low in 

 a virgin area. 



it is known that pelagic tar (floating tarballs) is present in tanker routes and near 

 harbors. Much of these data have been summarized by Butler, Morris, and Sass 

 ( Butler et al., 1973). The biological consequence of this steady input is not known. 

 When the material collects heavily on beaches, it is known to be a minor economic 

 problem for beach users and motel operators. McAuliffe points out what must be a 

 general truth for petroleum pollution in many areas: "The quantity of hydrocarbon 

 in the waters and recent sediments of the oceans is small compared to total additions, 

 indicating that destructive mechanisms are operative" (McAuliffe, 1976b). 



The use of bivalves as sentinel organisms for detecting levels of pollutants in U.S. 

 coastal waters has been the strategy of the Mussel Watch program. These animals 

 have been monitored for levels of four categories of marine pollutants: heavy metals, 

 transuranic elements, halogenated hydrocarbons, and petroleum hydrocarbons. 

 Beginning in 1976 a 3-year surveillance of hydrocarbon levels in mussels and oysters 

 (in the Gulf of Mexico) was made. Early results from the year-one and -two collec- 

 tions showed that low levels of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were 

 present in many samples from both coasts and that sites with elevated levels were 



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