In the Integrated oil spill response actions and environmental effects (GRACE) project, the impacts of oil and oil-dispersants on biota using biomarkers are studied to gain knowledge about the effects of oil contamination in cold climates such as the Norwegian Sea and the Baltic Sea. Along these regions, different mussel species could be found which may show different responses to pollutants. In order to shed some light on this issue, lysosomal responses of three Mytilus species were analysed after exposing them to water accommodated fractions (WAF) of crude oil and oil-dispersant mixture in laboratory conditions. Additionally, Xenostrobus securis, was also employed since it is an invasive species that may also occur in other regions including the cold ones. Four lysosomal biomarkers based on histochemical approaches were applied. WAF of crude oil and oil-dispersant caused both membrane destabilization and different alterations in the structure of lysosomes and in the amount of neutral lipid and lipofuscins. However, the responses were different among species according to the exposure time. This study shows that the four species had different responsiveness to the pollution which could be a confounding factor for the environmental health status assessment after an oil spill and oil spill response.
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