Relationships among petroleum refining, water and sediment contamination, and fish health

Water, sediment, and fish were sampled from three streams that were receiving or had received effluents from oil refineries. Water and sediment samples were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Each stream contained aromatic carbons including substituted benzenes and naphthalenes, which are related to oil refinery operations. Fish were identified, counted, and examined for external lesions. Lengths and weights were recorded for older bullhead catfish, and their livers were examined histologically. Differences were seen in the diversity and abundance of fish among the upstream, impacted (effluent-receiving), and downstream stations. In one stream, differences in liver pathology were observed between reference bullhead, collected from an upstream station, and those collected at impacted stations with more than 50% of the bullheads taken from impacted stations having some sort of pathological change, including one with a liver clear-cell focus, which is considered a preneoplastic lesion in rodents. These data suggest a correlation between contamination of water and sediments with aromatic hydrocarbons, presumably from refinery effluents, and compromised fish health.