Mesozooplankton (>200 μm) collected in August and September of 2010 from the northern Gulf of Mexico show evidence of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Multivariate statistical analysis revealed that distributions of PAHs extracted from mesozooplankton were related to the oil released from the ruptured British Petroleum Macondo-1 (M-1) well associated with the R/V Deepwater Horizon blowout. Mitra, et al., 201221 March 2012 (Houston Business Journal) – The Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil spill could have long-term effects on the Gulf of Mexico’s aquatic food chain, a new study says [Macondo-1 well oil-derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in mesozooplankton from the northern Gulf of Mexico].

BP Plc’s (NYSE: BP) Macondo well at the site leaked approximately 53,000 barrels of oil per day from April 20 to July 15, 2010. The study, “Macondo-1 well oil-derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in mesozooplankton from the northern Gulf of Mexico,” found that oil has contaminated zooplankton, one of the first links in the oceanic food chain. “Traces of oil in the zooplankton prove that they had contact with the oil and the likelihood that oil compounds may be working their way up the food chain,” Dr. Michael Roman of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science said in a statement accompanying the study. Baby fish and shrimp feed on the tiny, drifting zooplankton, and then introduce contamination and pollution to the larger sea creatures in the food web. At the time of the oil spill, Houston restaurateurs and food distributors were hit hard by shortages of popular delicacies such as oysters and crabs while regulators scrambled to determine the affects of the spill on marine life. Researchers identified the Macondo well’s unique chemical “fingerprint” of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Gulf of Mexico zooplankton. The study shows the chemical fingerprint was present in some zooplankton as much as a month after the leaking wellhead was capped. However, the report describes the geographic extent of the zooplankton contamination as “patchy.” Some zooplankton far away from the spill were contaminated, but some near the spill site had lower levels of contamination. […]

BP oil spill contaminated Gulf food chain, study says