S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2006). In the seafood samples, the peak measured concentrations for C1-benzo(a)anthracene/chrysenes were >3.8 × 103 times higher than the US-EPA’s permissible threshold for human consumption of seafood − 1.80 × 10−5 ppm (US Envtl Prot Agency, 2011). High TPH concentrations could impact the environment and economy of this region because of its extensive fisheries (oysters, shrimp, blue crabs, finfish). It was evident that marine biota such as sponges, coral, bryozoans and other sessile, epibenthic organisms clearly exhibited DNA Damage inhibitor high petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations to <18 m depth.

These compounds were present in organisms after the well was capped. A comparison of US and French PAHs monitoring initiatives in marine bivalves has revealed similar contamination trends in both countries (Beliaeff et al., 2002). HMW compounds bio-concentrate in marine bivalves, compared to the surrounding environment, and oysters are commonly used as sentinel organisms in toxicological testing of sediment. Long-term effects on these

organisms in the GOM remain to be described, and additional monitoring is recommended. Compounds GSK-3 activation derived from crude oil were found in varying concentrations in all media sampled during, and months after, the capping of the well – throughout the northern GOM. In particular, levels observed in some commercial species in the areas we sampled during the study period were high. It would appear that Gemcitabine concentration more complete testing, both technically and quantitatively (using GC/MS) after a spill would help to provide variance estimates for concentrations in the field. Achieving a more complete understanding of such variance would, of course, help managers in decision-making regarding opening of fisheries, helping to insure seafood safety. In regions where both oil/gas production and fisheries exploitation are being pursued, the continuing monitoring of oil in the water column, sediment, marine biota, and seafood would be valuable in helping

to define petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations in the environment and define any potential impacts on the environment with respect to VOC exposure. Such, of course, would be linked to the definition of points in time and space where fisheries might be opened once again for harvest. M. Orr, Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN) supplied valuable data for the study, and M. Moskovitz and Dynamic Adsorbents, Inc. supplied the hydrocarbon adsorbent cloth, for which we are most grateful. Many thanks to M. Genazzio and D. Beltz who assisted with data analyses and graphics. Many thanks to B. Wiseman of The Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization (LAEO), David Fa-Kouri – Louisiana Economic Foundation, and A. Blanchard, Indian Ridge Shrimp Co., Chauvin, LA, USA for raising some of the questions posed in this study and providing valuable data, information, and advice.