Contamination of limpets (Patella vulgata) following the Sea Empress oil spill

Following the grounding of the Sea Empress oil tanker at the entrance to Milford Haven, UK, in February 1997, samples of limpets (Patella vulgata) were collected from local coastal sites (after 2 weeks and 4 and 7 months) and analysed for oil contamination. Initially, relatively high concentrations of volatile two and three ring aromatic hydrocarbons (up to 86 μg g−1 dry weight) were found which decreased by orders of magnitude between surveys. These results are compared with a similar study of the Braer oil spill which show a similar rapid decrease in concentrations of volatile hydrocarbons while loss of heavier components is slower. An assessment of the non-volatile fingerprint sterane hydrocarbons showed limpet samples to be contaminated with hydrocarbons but was inconclusive about the source of those hydrocarbons. Another common fingerprint, the pristane: phytane ratio was investigated but this was found to be masked by the presence of natural biogenic compounds.