Nuclear techniques in response to marine oil spill emergencies

Marine and coastal ecosystems play a key role in the health of the ocean and the planet. Yet, they are threatened primarily by oil spills that can be devastating for both these ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.

The main challenge in this situation is having the information and tools to mitigate environmental impacts, determine the origin of spills, and assess whether toxic substances contaminate seafood.

Crude oils are complex mixtures of hydrocarbons and other substances that vary according to their geographical origin and source. The complexity of these mixtures provides an identifying ‘fingerprint’ that can be used to trace oil spilled in the marine environment back to the source of contamination, which is essential for post-spill mitigation.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at its Marine Environment Laboratory in Monaco offers nuclear and isotopic techniques to accurately measure and track oil spills so that countries can mitigate their damage and assess the risk to human health.

These techniques are based on the use of gas chromatography equipment coupled to mass spectrometers to determine the chemical composition of oil samples, i.e. their identifying fingerprint, so that they can help identify responsible parties and formulate long-term monitoring strategies.