Concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs (µg L−1), in the water at the different crude oil exposure levels (5–100 µl L−1) used in the experiments.

Concentration of PAHs was estimated from the oil added to the containers using the concentration of PAHs determined in the crude oil (Fig. 2) Crude oil exposure levels are also expressed in mg L−1 using a crude oil density of 0.845g/ml. Naphthalene (Nap), acenaphthene (Ace), acenaphthylene (Acy), fluorene (Flu), phenanthrene (Phe), anthracene (An), fluoranthene (Flua), pyrene (Pyr), benzo[a]anthracene (BaA), chrysene (Chr), benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbF).