Evidence of oil contamination in North Sea cod

Abstract

From the Abstract: “Environmental surveys have been carried out annually in the North Sea to assess the extent of petroleum contamination around oil platforms using oil-based drilling mud. In order to investigate the effect of the oil discharge on fish, samples of liver from cod caught 0–250 m from Norwegian North Sea drilling and production platforms were analysed for hydrocarbons by means of GC and GC/MS. The analysis of several hydrocarbon compound groups in cod liver samples from the North Sea shows that all parameters studied may be used to detect contamination due to the use of oil-based muds at drilling platforms. In extreme cases, fingerprint oil chromatograms are clearly observed in GC traces of cod liver extracts.”