Ecological and human risk assessment of long-term produced water discharge to the ocean at the Sonda de Campeche, Gulf of México

Abstract

Management of produced water (PW) is a challenge for mature fields like those of Sonda de Campeche in the southern Gulf of Mexico and for the future development of deep water fields. Past studies suggest that PW effects are local; however, the risk of widespread, long-term impact on the population and ecosystem is considered low, but not verified from the published literature. The study describes monitoring events done in years 2003 and 2013, considering physicochemical characteristics, organic and inorganic environmental measurements as well as comparing the prognostic results of an environmental and health risk assessment. The study examined ambient water samples and sediments for Al, Ba, Ni, Cd, Pb, Zn, V, Cr, Cu, Fe, and As, and also polycyclic aromatics compounds included in tissues of collected fish near the discharge area and a reference coastal site assumed to be unaffected. From a regional perspective, the ecological and human risk data suggest that the effects of the present discharge are not confined locally, but increased with time and space.