Oil refinery experience with the assessment of refinery effluents and receiving waters using biologically based methods

Abstract

The trend in discharges of petroleum-related substances from refineries in Europe shows a consistent picture of declining emissions, since first measured in 1969. This decline coincides with enhanced internal capture or recycling procedures and increasing use of physical and biological treatments. At the same time, and partly in response to legislative drivers, there has been an increase in the use of chronic (long-term) toxicity tests and alternative methods for assessing the quality of effluent discharges. The Whole Effluent Assessment (WEA) approach has also driven the increased conduct of studies addressing the fate of effluent constituents. Such studies have included the use of biodegradation and solid-phase micro-extraction-biomimetic extraction (SPME-BE) methods to address potentially bioaccumulative substances (PBS). In this way, it is then possible to address the persistence and toxicity of these PBS constituents of an effluent. The data collected in various case studies highlights the advantages and pitfalls of using biologically-based methods to assess the potential for refinery effluents to cause environmental impacts.

Investigating predictive tools for refinery effluent hazard assessment using stream mesocosms

“…The present study investigated potential tools for hazard assessment of refinery effluents (i.e., the prediction of effluent toxicity based on hydrocarbon composition and bioavailability). Biomimetic extraction of bioavailable hydrocarbons (potential bioaccumulating substances) is shown to be of use in addressing the fate and impact of effluent constituents and constitutes a convenient assessment of complex exposure systems (Concawe ; Letinski et al ; Mayer et al ; Comber et al ; Redman and Parkerton ). However, potential bioaccumulating substance measurements still require coupling to relevant effects on the population and ecosystem levels (De Maagd ), and the same can be stated for the predicted toxic units.…”

“…Refinery effluents can be compositionally complex and consequently challenging when it comes to assessing their hazard to the aquatic environment. Hence, increased application of whole‐effluent toxicity (WET) assessments has driven the number of studies addressing the fate and effects of refinery effluent constituents (Comber et al ) and hydrophobic organic contaminants in general. Additional approaches such as the prediction of toxic effects using chemical analyses of oil in water by biomimetic extraction (e.g., Letinski et al ; Mayer et al ; Redman et al ) appear promising.…”

Solid-phase microextraction technology for in vitro and in vivo metabolite analysis

“…In soil, the bioavailability of estrogen-like endocrine-disrupting compounds contributed to the assessment of risk to the environment using thin film geometry SPME (TF-SPME) [61]. With respect to water pollution, petroleum-related substances from refineries and refinery effluents in water were studied with biologically based SPME methods [62]. The technique also can be used to screen environmental petrochemical contamination in seafood [63].…”

Interlaboratory Comparison of a Biomimetic Extraction Method Applied to Oil Sands Process–Affected Waters

“…The BE‐SPME method has been most frequently applied to the assessment of the aquatic toxicity hazard of complex petroleum substances including crude oil (Bera et al, 2018; Letinski et al, 2014; Redman & Parkerton, 2015; Redman et al, 2017), refined products (CONCAWE, 2016; Redman et al, 2014), and petrochemicals (Woods et al, 2007). Also, SPME‐based biomimetic extractions have been used to assess both the aquatic toxicity and bioaccumulation potential of refinery effluents by measuring the bioavailability of hydrocarbons in these waters (Cailleaud et al, 2019; Comber et al, 2015; Leonards et al, 2011; Whale et al, 2022; Worden et al, 2021). A majority of published BE‐SPME applications have focused on capturing dissolved neutral organics.…”