Toxicity Bioassays for Antarctic Amphipods Exposed to Fuel and Dispersants

Bioassay results from 2014 show the response of the Antarctic amphipod Paramoera walkeri to contamination from Special Antarctic Blend diesel, Marine Gas Oil, and Intermediate Fuel Oil, both alone and chemically dispersed. The data includes mortality curves and LC50 values derived from tests using Water Accommodated Fractions and Chemically Enhanced Water Accommodated Fractions prepared under controlled laboratory conditions. The dataset was contributed by the Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AU_AADC) and last updated on NASA's Earthdata platform in July 2014.

Use Cases

• Modeling dose-response mortality curves based on the described dilution series (100% to 0.1%).
• Comparing the toxicity of different fuel types (SAB, MGO, IFO 180) and dispersants (Ardrox 6120, Slickgone NS).
• Assessing the synergistic effects of chemically enhanced water accommodated fractions (CEWAF) versus fuel-only water accommodated fractions (WAF).
• Evaluating experimental protocols for hydrocarbon toxicity testing in cold environments based on the described mixing and settling methods.

Strengths

• Experimental design includes five replicates per concentration and control groups, which likely supports statistical robustness.
• Test protocols are detailed, referencing specific preparation methods (Singer et al., 2000; Barron and Ka’aihue, 2003) and controlled conditions (0 ±1°C, 42h stirring).
• Data is structured to calculate LC50 values, a standard metric in toxicology.

Limitations

• Last updated 2014 07 09 23:59:59.999000; freshness should be verified.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AU_AADC) via NASA Earthdata (nasa_earthdata).

Collection Method

Laboratory bioassays conducted under controlled conditions, with test solutions prepared following specific published and adapted methodologies.

Time Range

The data reflects experiments conducted prior to its 2014 publication.

Freshness

2014-07-09 23:59:59.999000

Geography

Focus on the common Antarctic amphipod, Paramoera walkeri, indicating a polar marine context.