Dispersing Ain’t Cleaning: Ask Congress to Investigate Oil Spill-Dispersing Chemicals

As of Friday, May 14, 517,000 gallons of chemical dispersant have been applied to the BP oil spill in the Gulf. The chemical, Corexit–also known as deodorized kerosene–is used to break up oil into tiny drops, which then sink underwater. The oil may sink, but it does not “go away.” Toxicology expert Dr.William Sawyer notes, “With respect to marine toxicity and potential human health risks, studies of kerosene exposures strongly indicate potential health risks to volunteers, workers, sea turtles, dolphins, breathing reptiles and all species which need to surface for air exchanges, as well as birds and all other mammals.” While the dispersants contain toxic elements, no one really knows their full potential effects. Mother Jones reports that the toxicity statements filed by Corexit’s maker acknowledge: “No toxicity studies have been conducted on this product.”

What is in Corexit? We don’t get to know. The exact ingredients are a protected trade secret under U.S. law as it currently stands.
The New York Times notes that other dispersants may be as effective while being significantly less toxic. The Corexit advantage is that it is a child of the oil industry, manufactured by Nalco, which “was once part of Exxon Mobil Corp. and whose current leadership includes executives at both BP and Exxon.” If the company will not voluntarily reveal what it is dumping into open waters, it is time to force it to do so.

But isn’t it better to try to disperse the oil so it goes away? Isn’t anything better than the oil? Protect the Ocean observes that “Oil is toxic at 11 ppm while Corexit is toxic at only 2.61 ppm.” So Corexit is about four times as toxic as the oil it is being applied to. Of course, there is way less Corexit being dumped than oil, but the relative toxicity argument doesn’t really “hold water” when you consider that we’re not dumping Corexit instead of oil, but in addition to it. The corollary to this is that if the oil “disappears” from human sight, then BP won’t be under as much pressure to clean it up. The dispersants could save BP a ton of cleanup costs and PR embarrassment. But the food chain (yes, including us humans) will not be spared, as the oil works its way onto our dinner plate, species by species.

The appalling disaster of the Gulf oil spill may have slim silver linings by discouraging future off-shore drilling and encouraging stricter regulation of the oil industry and of its government watchdogs. A Care2 petition here is urging Congress to require that the chemical makeup of these dispersants be revealed so that informed decisions can begin to be made, outside of the back rooms that are ruled by money and influence.

Please sign Care2′s petition to Reveal Dispersant’s Toxic Secrets: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/979/606/413?z00m=19845812

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
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Cinderella Maid S.

10:38AM PDT on Oct 2, 2011

Pretty cool post. It’s really very nice and useful post. Thanks for sharing this with us!it’s my first visit.

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send a green star

Luis J.

1:52PM PDT on Aug 9, 2010

it can't be secret he needs to patent the formula and it be pùblic, to every body see what are they using in the sea

Beng Kiat L.

9:25PM PDT on Jun 27, 2010

Thanks

Mervi R.

2:37PM PDT on May 31, 2010

Yes, they definately should disclose the formula! Petition already signed.

Inez Deborah A.

6:07AM PDT on May 25, 2010

these monsters are still literally poisoning the sea to boot!

6:01AM PDT on May 25, 2010

these backward morons

nomailplz s.

10:25AM PDT on May 23, 2010

why would anyone dump anything into the water knowing what adverse affects it will have on the water AND the marine life. the is intolerable. this is why going green is so important. it is not only for us,but for mother earth herself and ALL who inhabit her.

johan l.

2:50AM PDT on May 23, 2010

Can one believe these people!
Of course it should be a given that Nalco discloses the ingredients of this dispersant.
Yet even now these guys still make a profit from a disaster!
I am sure that there must be dispersants far less toxic than this stuff they are using now.
Can congress not do anything about this?
I just want to mention that I saw a picture in my local paper (Pretoria News, South Africa), of three huge fires in the middle of the slick.
Will this help or is it also as dangerous as the stuff from Nalco.
Who pays for this dispersant anyway.
BP?

Angela N.

1:22AM PDT on May 20, 2010

I can't believe those chemicals aren't hazardous for marine life and I do want Nalco to disclose the formula.

Karen C.

7:39AM PDT on May 19, 2010

Congress needs to be informed of what actions are being taken before they are used. No one knows how to clean up this mess and that's the problem but I hope that BP is being watched to make sure they don't make the situation worse.