TOXICOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF OFFSHORE WIND TURBINE OIL ON PELAGIC MARINE INVERTEBRATES

Abstract

Expansion of offshore windfarms imposes the need to assess their impact on the environment. There is a growing concern about possible adverse effects on the marine ecosystems including contamination of local waters. Wind turbines use synthetic oils during operation, the impact of which on aquatic organisms has not been sufficiently assessed. Natural copepod communities provide a highly realistic and ecologically relevant test system that integrates responses across multiple species and life stages and enables the simultaneous assessment of multiple ecologically relevant endpoints. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of water accommodated fractions (WAFs) of synthetic wind turbine gear oil on a natural pelagic copepod community and its main food source, alga Rhodomonas salina. The study evaluated impacts on algal cell size, growth and chlorophyll fluorescence, as well as on copepod community feeding rate, total reproduction (number of unhatched eggs and nauplii production), total protein, and selected enzymes activities as biomarkers of oxidative stress (catalase), detoxification (GST), and chitin remodeling (NAGase). The most pronounced responses were a strong inhibition of the community feeding rate, with hormetic stimulation at the lowest concentration, reduced egg laying and inhibition of catalase activity. Results demonstrate that even innovative synthetic operational fluids for offshore wind turbines can impair foundational pelagic processes, providing mechanistic links between community-level functional impairments and biochemical responses in an ecologically realistic assemblage.