THE PROBLEM OF OIL POLLUTION OF THE SEA
283
months later without making further growth. The growth of Littorina
littorea is detectably limited at 7.5 p.p.m. (one-four-hundredth of the
LC,,) and significantly inhibited a t 30 p.p.m. (one-hundredth of the
LC,,). At a cellular level, Manwell and Baker (1967) have demonstrated powerful effects on enzymes and other proteins (e.g. it binds
the haemoglobin of soles Solea solea (L.)) but used only high concentrations. Corner and his colleagues also made preliminary experiments
with tissue extracts from Mytilus edulis, Patella vulgata and Chlamys
opercularis (L.). They found that emulsifiers kill these molluscs at 10100 p.p.m., but concentrations around 1 000 p.p.m. were needed to inactivate their enzymes by more than 50%. They suggested that
physical effects must therefore also be involved in the toxicity. Hicks
and Chaplin (unpublished, 1969) also found that 6 000 p.p.m. of BP
1002 inactivated various enzymes of Carcinus by only about 60%.
Fewer laboratory studies have been reported on the sensitivity of
plants t o emulsifiers. George (1960; unpublished but quoted by
Nelson-Smith, 1968a) added Polyclens to rock pools at 0*2%, killing
most of the algae, but observed that the corallines eventually recovered
from an addition of 1%. Boney (1968) found that the reproductive
bodies of Ascophyllum nodosum (typical of the large fucoids) are killed
only at high concentrations of emulsifiers (25% or more) although free
spermatozoids are inactivated in 9-150 p.p.m. The green algae Cladophora rupestris (L.) Kiitz. and Bryopsis hypnoides Lamour., together
with the microscopical form Prasinocladus m r i n u s (Cienk.) Waern and
the small filamentous red alga Acrochaetium infestans Howe & Hoyt
are damaged or killed at 25-50 p.p.m. Boney was unable to demonstrate that undiluted emulsifiers did any harm to Polysiphonia lanosa
(L.) Tandy or the laver-weed Porphyra umbilicalis. Rather more anecdotal evidence from O’Sullivan and Richardson (1967a, b), Spooner
(1967) and Nelson-Smith (1968a) of decolorized and flaccid plants of
Porphyra, as well as of the large brown alga Himanthalia elongata,
species of Cladophora, Ulva and Enteromorpha, and corallines (Corallina
oficinalis L. and Lithothamnion spp.) suggests that damaging concentrations were none the less attained during ‘‘ Torrey Canyon ” cleansing
operations. 0.25-0.5y0 B P 1002 altered the colour of pigment extracts
from the red alga Calliblepharis jubata (= C. lanceolata (Stackh.) Batt.)
in experiments by Manwell and Baker (1967). The sublittoral Delesseria
sanguinea (Hds.) Lamour was killed by as little as 0.001 yo (10 p.p.m.)
in tests reported by Smith (1968) and showed unusual colours at some
depth and distance from the shore (Drew et al., 1967; Potts et al., 1967).
Phytosocial analyses by Bellamy et al. (1067) have also demonstrated
damage to sublittoral as well as intertidal algae. Unlike the plants
283
months later without making further growth. The growth of Littorina
littorea is detectably limited at 7.5 p.p.m. (one-four-hundredth of the
LC,,) and significantly inhibited a t 30 p.p.m. (one-hundredth of the
LC,,). At a cellular level, Manwell and Baker (1967) have demonstrated powerful effects on enzymes and other proteins (e.g. it binds
the haemoglobin of soles Solea solea (L.)) but used only high concentrations. Corner and his colleagues also made preliminary experiments
with tissue extracts from Mytilus edulis, Patella vulgata and Chlamys
opercularis (L.). They found that emulsifiers kill these molluscs at 10100 p.p.m., but concentrations around 1 000 p.p.m. were needed to inactivate their enzymes by more than 50%. They suggested that
physical effects must therefore also be involved in the toxicity. Hicks
and Chaplin (unpublished, 1969) also found that 6 000 p.p.m. of BP
1002 inactivated various enzymes of Carcinus by only about 60%.
Fewer laboratory studies have been reported on the sensitivity of
plants t o emulsifiers. George (1960; unpublished but quoted by
Nelson-Smith, 1968a) added Polyclens to rock pools at 0*2%, killing
most of the algae, but observed that the corallines eventually recovered
from an addition of 1%. Boney (1968) found that the reproductive
bodies of Ascophyllum nodosum (typical of the large fucoids) are killed
only at high concentrations of emulsifiers (25% or more) although free
spermatozoids are inactivated in 9-150 p.p.m. The green algae Cladophora rupestris (L.) Kiitz. and Bryopsis hypnoides Lamour., together
with the microscopical form Prasinocladus m r i n u s (Cienk.) Waern and
the small filamentous red alga Acrochaetium infestans Howe & Hoyt
are damaged or killed at 25-50 p.p.m. Boney was unable to demonstrate that undiluted emulsifiers did any harm to Polysiphonia lanosa
(L.) Tandy or the laver-weed Porphyra umbilicalis. Rather more anecdotal evidence from O’Sullivan and Richardson (1967a, b), Spooner
(1967) and Nelson-Smith (1968a) of decolorized and flaccid plants of
Porphyra, as well as of the large brown alga Himanthalia elongata,
species of Cladophora, Ulva and Enteromorpha, and corallines (Corallina
oficinalis L. and Lithothamnion spp.) suggests that damaging concentrations were none the less attained during ‘‘ Torrey Canyon ” cleansing
operations. 0.25-0.5y0 B P 1002 altered the colour of pigment extracts
from the red alga Calliblepharis jubata (= C. lanceolata (Stackh.) Batt.)
in experiments by Manwell and Baker (1967). The sublittoral Delesseria
sanguinea (Hds.) Lamour was killed by as little as 0.001 yo (10 p.p.m.)
in tests reported by Smith (1968) and showed unusual colours at some
depth and distance from the shore (Drew et al., 1967; Potts et al., 1967).
Phytosocial analyses by Bellamy et al. (1067) have also demonstrated
damage to sublittoral as well as intertidal algae. Unlike the plants