Comment on 'Multitissue Molecular, Genomic, and Developmental Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on Resident Gulf Killifish (Fundulus grandis)'

摘要

Perspective is needed on Dubansky et al. concerning their study of fish eggs exposed to sediments from oiled locations along the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DHOS). The materials presented and cited are not persuasive of the authors' notion that their observations of developmental effects on eggs "are predictive of population-level effects in fish exposed to sediments from oiled locations..." I do not disagree with the authors' observation of effects on killifish eggs exposed in the laboratory to oiled sediment collected from three locations along the Gulf. Others have observed similar developmental effects from oil exposure on the eggs of other fish species as well as on killifish eggs from heavy metals and other oils. Also, I do not disagree with the judgment of the authors and others that such effects in exposed embryos compromise the survivability of the hatching larvae. However, I do not find the materials to offer a convincing prediction of population-level effects for several reasons.