Vegetable oil spills on salt marsh sediments; comparison between sunflower and linseed oils

The effects of a simulated spill of sunflower oil in salt marsh sediments were compared with an experiment with linseed oil. Sunflower and linseed oil penetrated the sediments at the same rates but different adsorption of the oils onto sediment particles resulted in the establishment of anaerobic conditions at shallower depths in sediments contaminated with linseed oil than with sunflower oil. The total lipid content of sunflower oil contaminated sediments remained almost stable for 6 months, whilst only 40% of linseed oil remained in the sediment after 2 months. Numbers of culturable heterotrophic bacteria and aerobic oil degrading bacteria in muddy sediment increased rapidly in response to the presence of the oils but bacterial numbers in sandy sediments increased more slowly for sunflower oil. Changes in fatty acid composition indicate similar degradation pathways for both oils but sunflower oil degraded more slowly than linseed oil and thus has the potential for longer lasting effects in marine environments.