A team of scientists from Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and Eawag in Switzerland conducted a study to view the immediate effects of an oil spill in a marine ecosystem.
It has long been established that water does not mix with oil, and when oil reaches the surface, a significant portion of it either evaporates into the atmosphere or is absorbed by marine plants.
Once in the ecosystem, oil can destroy the lives of aquatic animals, as well as the quality of the seawater.
Researchers discovered oil responds differently within 24 hours after a marine oil spill because the substance is not accustomed to the new ecosystem.
"In its new environment, the oil immediately begins to change its composition, and much of that change happens on the first day," explained Samuel Arey, a researcher at EPFL and Eawag in Switzerland and co- author of the study.
Oil, which is composed of different compounds, will break down once it enters water. This process releases toxic substances, such as naphthalene, that can gravely harm aquatic life.
Researchers coordinated with emergency response experts involved with the Dutch Rijkswaterstaat to gather data for the study, which tested the immediate effects by releasing a four-meter oil spill into a polluted area of the North Sea.
They concluded that every oil spill is unique, in terms of its effect on the ecosystem. The intensity of the oil spill depends on other environmental factors such as waves, wind and the temperature of the air and water.
Further findings of this study were published in the Aug. 11 issue of Environmental Science & Technology.
