STABILIZATION OF OIL-IN-WATER EMULSIONS WITH HIGHLY DISPERSED MINERAL PARTICLES: BIODEGRADATION AND TOXIC EFFECT ON AQUATIC ORGANISMS

For the processes of natural self-purification from oil spills, the presence of suspended solids in the water column is essential to form so called oil-mineral aggregates (OMA) followed by their migration to the bottom layers and subsequent oil biodegradation. The literature contains a sufficient number of publications devoted to OMA formation conditions and feasibility of their application in oil spill response technologies. However, the impact of OMAs on marine ecosystems and their representatives is poorly studied. The lack of systematic studies focused on the estimation of ecological risk of the consequence OMAs entail for marine ecosystems, and the efficiency of oil biodegradation involving OMA formation, leads to quite contradictory conclusions. This review presents an attempt to summarize the available reports on the ecological risk of OMAs for aquatic ecosystems and estimations of the effect of OMA formation on oil biodegradation. Factors that influence the toxicity of OMAs for suspended and benthic aquatic organisms, and the prospects for further research in the field of environmental impact of these structures with a view to use them more actively in oil spill response technologies are described. This review are based on the analysis of scientific publications over a period of 1999 to 2021 by ScienceDirect search tool. For citation: Grechishcheva N.Yu., Korolev A.M., Zavorotny V.L., Starodubtseva K.A., Ali M.S. Stabilization of oil-in-water emulsions with highly dispersed mineral particles: biodegradation and toxic effect on aquatic organisms. ChemChemTech [Izv. Vyssh. Uchebn. Zaved. Khim. Khim. Tekhnol.]. 2023. V. 66. N 2. P. 23-35. DOI: 10.6060/ivkkt.20236602.6729.