What dispersants are used for oil spills?
BP used two dispersants called Corexit 9500A and Corexit 9527A. These products are significantly more toxic and less effective than other available EPA-approved dispersants. Of the 18 dispersants approved for use by the EPA, seven were found to be less toxic than the Corexit products, and some were 10 times less toxic.
Can you apply dispersants to an oil spill?
Chemical dispersants are one of the response tools available during oil spill responses. Dispersants break up surface slicks, preventing the oil reaching coastal and shoreline environments, and reducing the direct exposure of marine mammals and birds to surface oil slicks.
What dispersants were used in Deepwater Horizon?
Two dispersants were used extensively in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: Corexit 9527 (surface applications only) and Corexit 9500A (both surface and wellhead).
What are examples of dispersant?
Chemical dispersants such as Corexit 9500A® are complex mixtures, containing hazardous substances including petroleum distillates (solvent), propylene glycol (stabilizer), organic sulfonic acid salt or Dioctyl Sodium Sulfosuccinate or DOSS (surfactant), sorbitan, and other ingredients (Nalco Energy Services, 2012).
What is oil dispersant made of?
Dispersants, like Corexit 9500/9527 (used in Gulf of Mexico oil spills), are a mixture of solvents, surfactants and other chemicals that are designed to make oil more soluble in water. Dispersants consist normally of one or more surfactants.
What are the functions performed by dispersant?
Dispersants are substances that disperse another substance in a medium such as water to form a colloidal solution. Their main function is to reduce the adhesion between particles and prevent flocculation or agglomeration.
What are the chemicals in dispersant?
A typical commercial dispersant contains solvents and surfactants. Solvents help keep the chemicals mixed and help them dissolve into the oil. Surfactants allow oil and water to mix easily.
What is the use of dispersing agent?
A dispersant or a dispersing agent is a substance, typically a surfactant, that is added to a suspension of solid or liquid particles in a liquid (such as a colloid or emulsion) to improve the separation of the particles and to prevent their settling or clumping.
How many gallons of oil were used in the Gulf Oil Spill?
More than 770,000 gallons of dispersants were injected at the wellhead, but substantial amounts of oil continued to surface near the response site, according to the study published in Frontiers in Marine Science. The study also showed the dispersants were unrelated to the formation of massive oil plumes deep beneath the surface.
Did dispersants worsen the oil spill damage?
The new study also agreed that the chemical dispersant, called Corexit, may have worsened the ecological damage by “suppressing the growth of natural oil-degrading bacteria and by increasing the toxicity of the oil itself.”
Did chemical dispersants used on Deepwater Horizon do more harm than good?
The chemical dispersants used by the tons on the Deepwater Horizon spill did little to stop the oil from spreading and likely did more harm than good, a new University of Miami study says.
Are there alternatives to stopping oil spills?
The study says alternatives for stopping oil spills must be considered. The chemical dispersants used by the tons on the Deepwater Horizon spill did little to stop the oil from spreading and likely did more harm than good, a new University of Miami study says.