Specific in vitro toxicity of crude and refined petroleum products. 1. Aryl hydrocarbon receptor - mediated responses

The present study is the first in a series reporting on in vitro toxic potencies of oils. The objective was to determine whether 11 crude oils and refined products activate the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) in a dioxin receptor-mediated luciferase assay. Cells were exposed for 6 and 24 h to different oil concentrations to screen for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-like or dioxin-like activity. Moreover, cytotoxicity of the oils was determined using rat hepatoma cells. Except for one crude oil, none of the oils appeared cytotoxic up to 100 mg/L, but all oils activated the AhR. Strong AhR induction was observed for most oils after 6 h, and responses decreased after 24 h, indicating the presence of metabolizable agonists. However, several oils still caused high responses after 24 h, also demonstrating the presence of persistent agonists. The potencies (calculated based on comparisons of concentrations at which 50% of the maximal effect was observed) of oils were found to be approximately 40 to 10⁶ times lower than the potency of the assay's standards benzo[a]pyrene and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin. However, considering that oils contain thousands of chemicals, the potencies of petrochemical agonists may be very high. Among the most potent oils were bunker and crude oils. Induction up to 200% as compared to the maximum induction caused by benzo[a]pyrene was observed for these oils. Such supermaximal responses suggest mixture effects that may not be receptor-mediated. Experiments in which oils were tested in combination with the standards demonstrated that oils acted via an antagonistic or additive mode. The results of the present study may help improve risk assessment of petroleum products and judge the necessity or priority of oil spill cleanup activities.