Barium and iron are redox-sensitive and may precipitate upon discharge (Azetsu-Scott et al., 2007 and Lee et al., GSK J4 in vivo 2005). Barium will precipitate as barium sulfate and iron as oxide/hydroxide. Such processes may also influence the behavior of other metals, e.g. by co-precipitation. The study by Azetsu-Scott et al. (2007) indicated

three different pathways for inorganic elements: components that 1) stayed in solution would dilute along with the PW plume, 2) oxidize/precipitate to form insoluble inorganic compounds that would sink, 3) associate with oil droplets that are lighter than seawater and rise to the surface. There are a range of biogeochemical processes affecting the behavior and fate of inorganic elements in seawater, the treatment of which goes beyond this review. Monitoring studies on the NCS have only found elevated levels of trace metals in sediments collected close to the installations. This is primarily due to discharges of drill cuttings. There is no indication that the levels of trace metals in fish and shellfish collected close to offshore installations are significantly above natural background concentrations. The most abundant NORM elements in PW are radium-226 and radium-228. PW from different installations and areas on the NCS contain low and

varying levels of these elements (Gäfvert et al., 2007). Monitoring studies carried out at NCS fields have not seen any evidence for increased environmental concentrations of radium-226 (seawater, sediments, biota) caused by PW discharges. The chemical composition of PW from selleck chemicals the NCS has been described in many scientific papers (e.g. Durell et al., 2006, Johnsen et al., 2004, Lee et al., 2005, Neff et al., 2011, Utvik, 1999 and Utvik et al., 1999). These studies show high variability in PW composition from different fields. Utvik et al. (1999) found that there was no correlation between the total hydrocarbon content (THC, present regulatory standard), and the content of aromatic compounds in PW.

Farnesyltransferase The toxicity of PW may be influenced by chemical partitioning and kinetics following discharge (Lee et al., 2005). Consequently, the effects of PW discharges cannot be inferred from regulatory compliance of THC alone, but must be based on field-specific and detailed chemical characterization of each PW effluent. This large variability also makes it difficult to generalize about dose-dependent biological effects of particular effluents. It is difficult to quantify environmental concentrations of PW compounds by direct extraction with organic solvents or using absorbents, as the discharge is rapidly diluted in the receiving seawater. Various passive sampling devices have therefore been developed to provide unattended large-volume and time-integrated sampling (see review by e.g. Namiesnik et al., 2005).