Dispersants

Dispersants started being used in the 1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s, many countries were reluctant to use dispersants, most likely, due to the negative effects and media coverage that occurred from the Torrey Canyon spill. Dispersants that were used in the Torrey Canyon spill caused conclusive environmental damage which perpetuated that the use of dispersants were unsafe. Current dispersants are said to be much safer by experts.

A dispersant is similar to a detergent that is used on clothes, instead of removing dirt from a fabric; it removes oil from sea water surface. It is applied by spraying usually using airplanes onto the site of the oil slick and this causes the oil to immerse into water column at low concentrations. Dispersants were made to lower the impact of oil in the sea water on shorelines and natural habitats and in the case of the Gulf spill reduce the contamination and illness of fish, fisheries and invertebrates, marine mammals like the humpback whale, turtles like the endangered Kemps ridley, green, leatherback and loggerhead, birds who feed and nest in marshes like the brown pelican, diving ducks and the threatened species the piping plover.

The two dispersants mostly used in the Gulf included COREXIT 9500 and 9527 which are made of the constituents shown below:

Chemical Components of COREXIT 9500A and 9527

CAS Registry Number
57-55-56 111-76-2 577-11-7 1338-43-8 9005-65-6 9005-70-3 29911-28-2 64742-47-8

Chemical Name
1,2-Propanediol Ethanol, 2-Butoxy-* Butanedioic acid, 2-sulfo-, 1,4-bis(2ethylhexyl) ester, sodium salt (1:1) Sorbitan, mono-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate Sorbitan, mono-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate, poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl) derivs Sorbitan, tri-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate, poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl) derive 2-Propanol, 1-(2-butoxy-1-methylethoxy)Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated light