Prepared in response to widespread public concern among Gulf Coast communities about the safety of chemicals, known as dispersants, that were poured into the Gulf of Mexico to disperse oil during the Deepwater Horizon disaster, this report presents findings from a literature review of scientific research on each of 57 chemical ingredients that are found in dispersants that were eligible for use at the time of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
One year ago, the BP oil spill had just started turning the Gulf of Mexico’s blue waters to the color of rust. Triggered on April 20, 2010 by a well-rig explosion that killed 11 people, the spill would gush more than 200 million gallons of crude oil—the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Before the…
The Macondo well blowout in April 2010 released more than 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over the course of three months. Dispersants, used to move large slicks from coastland into the water column, were applied in unprecedented amounts, totaling approximately 1.84 million gallons. They were also applied in an unprecedented…
