The scientific study and practical application of the industrial

arts, applied sciences, etc. the method for handling a specific technical
problem.
All conditions circumstances etc. that surround and influence
life on earth including atmospheric conditions, food chains and the water
cycles .
Environmental technology is the
scientific study or the application of methods to understand and handle
problems which influence our surroundings and , in our case the
surroundings around oil industry facilities and where oil products are used.
Health Safety and Environment
• Petroleum industry makes use of many different activities in all the sectors of the
business cycle: from upstream to downstream.
• Oil and services company’s management apply HSE policies to all levels of
operations and in all sectors.
• Health, Safety, Environment are separate issues, each with its own
technology, but they are often combined in the same functional groups within the
oil companies.
• These three subjects are of paramount importance to the petroleum industry and
adherence to HSE guidelines is a requirement for operators worldwide and is also
dictated by internal policies of most corporations.
 HSEMS (Health, Safety and Environmental
Management System)
• It is fundamental to have and implement
an HSEMS which defines the principles
by which operations are conducted and
control the risks in the whole industry
cycle.
• Health
• The health function typically deals with the well-being of the
employees as they live and work in their environment.
• It deals with the conduct of activities in such a way as to avoid harm to
the health of employees and others, and to promote, as appropriate,
their health.
• Typically, the health function focuses on the effects of oil field
chemicals and oil field physical environment on employees.
• Safety
• The safety function focuses on protecting the employee from risk involved during
any type of operation and duties.
• It is related to the principle that all injuries should be prevented and actively
promote amongst all those associated with their activities the high standards of
safety consciousness and discipline that this principle demands.
• The safety function seeks to minimize these risks and monitor the effectiveness of
the minimization activities.
Environment
• The environmental issue pursuit the progressive reductions of emissions,
effluents and discharges of waste materials that are known to have a negative
impact on the environment, with the ultimate aim of eliminating them.
• It aims to provide products and services and advice which will not cause injury or
undue effects on the environment.
• It promote protection of environments which may be affected by the development
of petroleum activities and seek continuous improvement in efficiency of use of
natural resources and energy.
• All petroleum activities are subject to a declaration of environmental compatibility
issued by the competent Authorities after in-depth studies of the possible
environmental impact. These studies
• Identify sensitive environmental issues
• State possible environmental impact
• Provide a description of the technology and methodology necessary to reduce the risk of
damage
Oil has become key resource for 21st century. Oil has become the energy of choice
for transport and many other applications and the feedstock for a major class of the
material used today. The uses of petroleum are major contributors to our present
standard of living.
The activities of finding and producing petroleum, however, can impact the
environment, and the greatest impact arises from the release of wastes into the
environment in concentrations that are not naturally found. These wastes include
hydrocarbons, solids contaminated with hydrocarbons, water contaminated with a
variety of dissolved and suspended solids, and a wide variety of chemicals.
While some of these wastes can have significant adverse effects on the
environment , some have little impact and others are actually beneficial.
In virtually all cases, the adverse impact can be minimized or eliminated
through the implementation of proper waste management.
The most important steps in minimizing adverse environmental impact are for
the industry to take a proactive approach (acting in advance to deal with an
expected difficulty) to managing operations and become educated about those
activities that can potentially harm the environment. The proactive approach
involves adopting an attitude of environmental responsibility – not just to
comply with regulations but to actually protect the environment while doing
business.

Environmental Issues

Finding and producing oil and gas while minimizing adverse

environmental impact requires an understanding of the complex issues
facing the upstream
petroleum industry.
These issues concern operations that generate wastes, their potential
influences on the environment, mechanism and pathways for waste
migration, effective ways to manage wastes, treatment methods to reduce
their volume and/or toxicity, disposal methods, remediation methods for
contaminated sites and all applicable regulations.

Impact of Oil Industry

Many of the materials and wastes associated with drilling and production
activities have potential to impact the environment. The potential impact
depends primarily on the materials, its concentration after release and the
biotic community that is exposed.
The most common measure of the potential environmental impact of a
material is its toxicity. Toxicity occurs when a material causes a deleterious
effect on an organism, population or community.
Bioassay (Bio + Assay = Living + to test)
• A bioassay is an analytical method to determine the concentration
or potency of a substance by its effect on living animals or plants
(in vivo), or on living cells or tissues(in vitro). A bioassay can be
either quantal or quantitative, direct or indirect
TOXICITY
Toxicity is the degree to which a substance can damage an organism.
or

The toxicity of a substance is a measure of how it impairs the life and health
of living organism following exposure to the substance.

Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an

animal, bacterium or plant, as well as the effect on a substructure of the
organism, such as a cell or an organ such as the liver.

SYMBOL: skull & crossbones

 TOXICITY MEASUREMENT
Toxicity is determined through Bioassay by exposing laboratory animals to
different amount of the substance. The resulting effects on the health of the
animals are observed.

For petroleum industry waste, common test species are:

Mysid Shrimp
(Mysidopsis bahis)

Marine
Water Sheepshead minnow
(Cyrinidon
Variegatus)
 Fathead Minnow
(Pimephales Promelas)

Fresh
Water
Daphnia Shrimp
(Ceriodaphnia Dubia)
 Toxicity
Measurement Toxicity measurements using
concentration also include a time
interval of exposure.

Dose Concentration

Dose: The dose is the concentration of

substancea that has been absorbed into the tissue
of the test species. The dose is the mass fraction
of the substance in animal tissue (milligram of
substance per gram of tissue, mg/g), when a
particular effect has been observed.
 Concentration: The concentration is a measure of the concentration of a
substance in the environment that the species lives in. Toxicity measurements using
concentration also include a time interval of exposure. The concentration is the
fraction of the substance in air or water that causes a particular effect when the
target animal is placed in that environment. It is normally given either as a mass
fraction in parts per million (ppm) or as mass per unit volume in milligram per litre
(mg/L).

Concentration is the toxicity measure most

commonly used for materials
associated with the petroleum industry.
 Terminology Used In Evaluation Of Toxicity
LD50

LD stands for "Lethal Dose". LD50 is the amount of a material, given all at once
per unit weight, which causes the death of 50% (one half) of a group of test
animals. The LD50 is one way to measure the short-term poisoning potential
(acute toxicity) of a material.

LDLO

the lowest dose that is lethal, i.e., the dose resulting in the first death, is called LDLO. LDLO
stands for “Lethal Dose Low”. The dose resulting in the first death.
The dose levels required for any particular effect also depend on
how the animal is exposed – by injection, ingestion or inhalation.
Surprisingly, death by water, or water intoxication as it’s officially known, happens quite a lot. It’s common among young
people who challenge themselves to “water drinking contests,” or athletes who mistakingly over-hydrate while training

When a person drinks too much water the kidneys cannot flush it out as well and this causes the excess water to enter the cells
and cause them to swell. When the brain cells begin to swell the situation can turn lethal fast.
"Rapid and severe hyponatremia causes entry of water into brain cells leading to brain swelling, which manifests as seizures,
coma, respiratory arrest, brain stem herniation, and death
 LC50
An LC50 value is the concentration of a material in air or water that will kill
50% of the test subjects (animals, typically mice or rats) when administered as
a single exposure within a given period of time.
LCLO
The lowest lethal concentration for the same period of time.

EC50
EC50 stands for Effective Concentration 50. Concentration at which half of the
exposed organisms exhibits sublethal effects.
NOEC
NOEC stands for No Observable Effect Concentration. The
concentration below which no effects are observed.
If a material is highly toxic, then only a small concentration will be lethal and
the numerical values of the lethal doses and concentrations – LD50, LDLO,
LC50, LCLO would be low. Conversely a high values of these parameters
indicates low toxicity.
LC50 values on the order of 10 ppm are normally considered highly
toxic, while values in the order of 1,00,000 ppm are considered non toxic.
The length of exposure to a substance can be divided into descriptive
types. Exposure that causes an immediate effect is called acute, while
repeated long term exposure is called chronic.
Exposure Type Duration of Exposure
Acute Less than 24 hours
Subacute Less than 1 months
Subchronic 1 – 3 months
Chronic More than 3 months
 Bioassay (Biological
It is a type of Assay)
scientific experiment. Bioassays are typically conducted to
measure the effects of a living organism and are essential in the development
of new drugs and in monitoring experimental pollutants.

Limitations of Bioassay
Test yield only acute lethal concentration. They provide no data on the
sublethal or long-term effects of the tested substances. (Refer EC50)
They are conducted in a laboratory and do not necessarily represent the
field conditions that would actually be encountered if exposure occurred.
Filed conditions normally involve different concentrations and different
mixtures of potentially toxic materials.
They do not provide adequate information about chronic effects, including
the mutagenic or carcinogenic activity of a substance.
Many substances called mutagenes can alter the structure of DNA
molecules in individual cells. If mutation results in cancer, the substance
is called carcinogen.
• Most mutations result in the death of the individual cells affected, with
no reproduction of the mutation. If a mutated cell survives and results
in future birth defects, the substance is called teratogenic.
• If the mutation results in cancer, the substance is called carcinogenic.
• As a rule, nearly all carcinogens are also mutagens, but not all
mutagens are carcinogens.
• For nonmutagenic or noncarcinogenic substances, a threshold dose is
assumed to exist, below which there is no toxic effect.
• The threshold dose depends on the ability of the organism to detoxify and
excrete the substance and repair any damage through normal biological
processes.
• If an organism is exposed to a dose higher than one that can be repaired by
normal biological processes, then toxic impact will occur.
• The magnitude of this impact will increase as the dose increases over the
threshold dose.
• Although some substances are toxic in high concentrations, they may be
essential in low concentrations for normal biological processes.
• These required substances include trace minerals and heavy metals
commonly found in petroleum operations.
• For carcinogenic or mutagenic substances, however, it is assumed
that there is no threshold dose. The impact is assumed to increase
with the dose over all exposure levels.
Effective Concentration (EC50)
• For sublethal effects, a related toxicity parameter, EC50 can also be
used. This parameter is the concentration that would result in adverse
effects in test species after an exposure of a specified duration.
• Few data are available on EC values, however, because they are
difficult and expensive to quantify. A related sublethal toxicity
parameter is the NOEC (no observable effect concentration), the
concentration at or below which no effects are observed.
 Another significant limitation to bioassay is the time it takes for results to
be obtained. Bioassay typically takes two to three weeks to be
completed.

Microtox Test (Hoskin and Strohl, 1993)

In this method a marine luminescent bacterium, photobacterium phosphoreum is

used. These bacteria emit light as a part of their metabolic processes and results
in a reduction in their light output. An advantage of the Microtox method is that
the test is conducted in 15 minutes.
• Another rapid toxicity assay that has been studied is the
fertilization rate of sea urchins.

• In this test, sea urchin sperm and eggs are

• collected, exposed to the substance being tested, and then
combined.

• The fraction of eggs fertilized is then measured.

• Like the biolumi–nescence tests, the fertilization assays

correlate poorly with the mysid shrimp toxicity tests
Human safety guidelines include

• Threshold Limit Values—time Weighted Average (TLV-TWA):

• The TLV-TWA is the time-weighted average concentration for a normal 8-hour
workday and 40-hour workweek to which nearly all workers can be chronically
exposed without adverse effects.
• Threshold Limit Values—short-term Exposure (TLV-STEL):
• The TLV-STEL is the highest short-term exposure to which a worker can be
exposed without the worker experiencing irritation, chronic or irreversible tissue
change, or narcosis at a level that impairs judgment or work efficiency.
• Threshold Limit Value—ceilings (TLV-C)
• The TLV-C is the concentration that should not be exceeded during the work day.

• TLV values are developed by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists
(ACGIH).
Human safety guidelines include
• Reference dose (RfD) concentration per mass of tissue) are an
estimate of a daily exposure level to humans that is likely to occur
without an appreciable risk of deleterious effects during a lifetime.
• These guidelines have been promulgated into rules and regulations by
the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
These rules are referred to as permissible exposure levels (PEL).
TLV values are guidelines based on scientific evidence. PEL values
are legal rales based on health, economic, and safety considerations.
The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
also develops recommended exposure limits (RELs). Like TLV values,
RELs are guidelines, not rules.
 MSDS
A Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) is a document that
contains information on the potential health effect of exposure
to chemicals, or other potentially dangerous substances, and
on safe working procedures when handling chemical
products.
MSDS includes specific chemical identity and common names
It must provide information about:
• -Physical and chemical characteristics
• Health effects
• Exposure limits
• Carcinogenicity (Cancer-causing)
• Identification (name, address, and telephone number)
of the organization responsible for preparing the sheet
• Must be readily accessible to employees in their work
areas
1. Manufacturer's name, address, phone number, and date of MSDS
preparation.
2. Identity of material (chemical and common names).
[Link] of hazardous ingredients, with exposure limits.
4. Physical and chemical characteristics, including boiling point, melting point, density,
solubility in water, appearance, odor, vapor density, and vapor pressure,
5. Fire and explosion hazard data, including flash point, flame mobility limits, extinguishing
media, special firefighting procedures, and unusual fire and explosion hazards.
6. Reactivity data, including chemical stability, incompatibility with other chemicals and
materials, hazards of decomposition or byproducts, and whether the material polymerizes.
7. Health hazard data, including exposure routes (inhalation, skin, or ingestion), acute and
chronic health hazards, toxicity data, carcinogenicity, signs and symptoms of exposure,
medical conditions aggravated by exposure, and emergency procedures (including first aid).
8. Precautions for safe handling and use, including steps to be taken if the material is spilled
or released, first-aid procedures for exposure, method for disposal, and precautions for
handling and storage.
Hydrocarbon Toxicity
• Crude oil contains thousands of different kinds of hydrocarbon
molecules, making it very difficult to characterize.
• Crude oil can also contain significant quantities of other elements,
like sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, and heavy metals, further
complicating its characterization.
• Crude oil is typically composed of between 50% and 98%
hydrocarbons. Other important components can be sulfur (0-10%),
nitrogen (0-1%) and oxygen (0-5%).
• Alkanes are also called paraffins or saturated hydrocarbons, because it contains
the maximum possible amount of hydrogen.
• Alkenes or olefins are unsaturated, because not all possible bond sites contain
hydrogen
• Cyclic alkanes, also called naphthenes or cycloparaffins have the carbon chain
loop back upon itself, forming a ring or cyclic structure. All carbon-to-carbon
bonds are single bonds. General form CnH2n.
Aromatics
• Ring structures, but each carbon has only one hydrogen atom and the remaining bond sites are
shared among the adjacent carbon atoms.
• Results in very stable carbon-to-carbon bonds.
• These bonds are conveniently written as an alternating double-single bond.
Polycyclic Aromatics, Poly-Aromatic Hydrocarbons
(PAH), Or Polynuclear Aromatics (PNA)

• These condensed ring structures have

aromatic rings sharing carbon atoms with
other rings.
• The polyaromatic fraction of crude oil
ranges between about 0.2% and 7,4%.
• Other families of hydrocarbons contain atoms other than carbon and
hydrogen. Alcohols, Organic acids and Amines.
Asphaltenes
• These are large polyaromatic hydrocarbons that contain sulfur,
oxygen, or nitrogen.
• They contain typically three to ten ring structures.
• Pure asphaltenes are solids and are insoluble in crude oil, although
they can be dispersed in oil as a colloidal suspension.
 Hydrocarbon Toxicity
• Factors that affect toxicity include molecular weight, hydrocarbon family, the
organism exposed to the hydrocarbon, and life-cycle stage of the organism exposed
(egg, larva, juvenile, or adult).
• For mixtures of hydrocarbons, such as crude oil, the toxicity also depends on the
history of the exposure.
• For hydrocarbons of a similar type (the same family), the toxicity tends to increase
with decreasing molecular weight.
• Light crude oils and refined products tend to be more toxic than those of heavy
crude oils, because heavy crude oils have a higher average molecular weight.
• For similar molecular weight hydrocarbons, the toxicity varies with family.
• The toxicity of hydrocarbon families generally increases in the following
order: alkanes, alkenes, cycloparaffins, aromatics, and polyaromatic
hydrocarbons.
• Some of the least toxic hydrocarbons include dodecane and higher
paraffins.
• The most toxic hydrocarbons are the low-boiling-point aromatics,
particularly benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene. Because of
their similar properties, these four aromatic molecules are commonly
referred to as BTEX. The most toxic hydrocarbons also tend to have a
high solubility in water. A high solubility makes a molecule more
accessible for uptake by plants and animals.
The Fate of Spilled Oil

Weathering, Evaporation, Oxidation, Biodegradation and Emulsification

 The Fate of Spilled Oil
• Natural processes that may act to reduce the severity of an oil spill or accelerate
the decomposition of spilled oil are always at work in the aquatic environment.
These natural processes include weathering, evaporation, oxidation,
biodegradation, and emulsification.
• Weathering is a series of chemical and physical changes that cause spilled oil to
break down and become heavier than water. Winds, waves, and currents may
result in natural dispersion, breaking a slick into droplets which are then
distributed throughout the water. These droplets may also result in the creation
of a secondary slick or thin film on the surface of the water.
• Evaporation occurs when the lighter substances within the oil mixture become
vapors and leave the surface of the water. This process leaves behind the heavier
components of the oil, which may undergo further weathering or may sink to the
ocean floor. For example, spills of lighter refined petroleum-based products such
as kerosene and gasoline contain a high proportion of flammable components
known as light ends. These may evaporate completely within a few hours,
thereby reducing the toxic effects to the environment. Heavier oils leave a
thicker, more viscous residue, which may have serious physical and chemical
impacts on the environment. Wind, waves, and currents increase both
evaporation and natural dispersion.
• Oxidation occurs when oil contacts the water and oxygen combines with the oil to
produce water-soluble compounds. This process affects oil slicks mostly around
their edges. Thick slicks may only partially oxidize, forming tar balls. These dense,
sticky, black spheres may linger in the environment, and can collect in the
sediments of slow moving streams or lakes or wash up on shorelines long after a
spill.
• Biodegradation occurs when micro-organisms such as bacteria feed on oil. A wide
range of micro-organisms is required for a significant reduction of the oil. To
sustain biodegradation, nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are sometimes
added to the water to encourage the micro-organisms to grow and reproduce.
Biodegradation tends to work best in warm water environments.
• Emulsification is a process that forms emulsions consisting of a mixture of small
droplets of oil and water. Emulsions are formed by wave action, and greatly
hamper weathering and cleanup processes. Two types of emulsions exist:
water-in-oil and oil-in-water. Water-in-oil emulsions are frequently called
"chocolate mousse," and they are formed when strong currents or wave action
causes water to become trapped inside viscous oil. Chocolate mousse emulsions
may linger in the environment for months or even years. Oil and water emulsions
cause oil to sink and disappear from the surface, which give the false impression
that it is gone and the threat to the environment has ended.
Impact of crude oil on marine animals and
ecosystem
• The oil spilled over the ocean not only
reduces the dissolved oxygen in water
but also blocks the sunlight from
penetrating the surface.
• The oil-coated marine mammals and
birds die from hypothermia as the
waterproofing and insulating properties
of the feathers are ruined.
• The ingested oil slows down the
reproductive rate of the animals causing
long-term damage to the animal’s
population.
• Ten years later, oil spill damage is still
haunting the aquatic system by causing
eproductive failures, lung disease,
impaired stress response, heart issues,
and death in marine fauna
Overall Impact of crude oil
 Wildlife Habitat and Breeding Grounds

Beaches, Marshlands, and Fragile Aquatic Ecosystems