page_title: Oil toxicity
section_title: Clinical signs
hierarchical_section_title: Oil toxicity / Clinical signs
caption_attribution_description: Oiled Bird - Black Sea Oil Spill
context_page_description: Oil toxicity is a wildlife disease resulting from the accidental exposure of animals to oil. Major sources of such oil in the environment include accidental oil spills from off-shore sites, oil tankers, pipelines, and other facilities that store and process oil. Wildlife exposure to oil can result in both external and internal damage. Oil intoxication has the greatest impact on bird species, aquatic mammals, and other aquatic organisms. Affected wildlife can usually be identified via visual inspection, and can be treated if found early on.
context_section_description: Animals affected externally by oil toxicity can often be seen or found via the smell. In some light, transparent oils may be difficult to detect visually. Animals can also be internally diagnosed via necropsy by identifying petroleum hydrocarbons in their fat, liver, or kidney tissues  For damage assessments, the death of the animal must have occurred after the oil spill.
  The severity of damage directly correlates with the amount of oil spilled and the animal's exposure to oil. However, a small spill at a more sensitive season or environment may have more drastic impacts than a large spill in a less sensitive season or environment. External exposure to oil often leads to destroyed insulating fur or feathers, resulting in death from hypothermia. Contact with oil can also result in blindness, which impairs animals' ability to compete for food or to avoid predators.
  The ingestion of oil can cause a variety of internal problems. These include anemia, reproductive impairment, and damage to the stomach and intestines. These animals can also suffer from dehydration and pneumonia, due to a decreased thermo-regulation.
caption: A bird covered in oil from the Black Sea Oil Spill.
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