Say NO to the further use of toxic dispersants!

Since the Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 22nd BP has dumped several hundred thousand gallons of chemical dispersant into the Gulf of Mexico. Another 805,000 gallons is on order. The EPA has acted with reckless disregard for the evidence by allowing BP to continue this unsafe and ineffective practice.

Research clearly demonstrates that dispersants are extremely toxic, and that instead of mitigating the damage caused by the oil spill, they amplify the absorption of deadly hydrocarbons into plant and animal life. “Dispersants are also known to remarkably decrease the transfer of oxygen (pdf) into water-based fermentation media This means that in addition to dispersing the oil into large subsurface plumes, the dispersants may well be limiting the ability of water in the Gulf to absorb oxygen from the atmosphere, exacerbating the problem of oxygen depletion caused by the oil itself and by nutrient runoff.”¹

Dispersants also pose an immediate health threat to disaster relief workers and residents in the region, as they adversely affect the air quality by entering wind currents and by accelerating the evaporation of other toxic compounds from the crude oil.

Elected officials must protect the Gulf of Mexico and Americans who make it their home. Tell Congress to halt the use of dangerous dispersants and employ less harmful and more effective methods of disaster mitigation.

Sign the petition to end the use of dispersants in the Gulf.

OTHER ARTICLES ON THE TOPIC

1)  Gulf Oil Spill: Dispersants Have Potential to Cause More Harm Than Good

2) Out of Sign: BP’s dispersants are toxic – but not as toxic as dispersed oil

3) Dispersant ‘may make Deepwater Horizon oil spill more toxic’

4) Chemical dispersants being used in Gulf clean-up are potentially toxic

5) Adding Toxicity to the Gulf: The Exxon-Developed Chemical Being Against the Oil Spill

6) Out of Sight: Dispersed Oil’s High Price

7) Sierra Club: Dispersants Worse than Oil

8)  BP chose more toxic, less effective oil dispersant manufactured by company with ‘close ties’ to oil giant.

9) Less Toxic Dispersants Lose Out in BP Oil Spill Cleanup

10) In Gulf Spill, BP Using Dispersants Banned in U.K.

11) Will Submerged Oil Plume Cause Massive Fish Kills in Gulf?

REFERENCES

¹ Will Submerged Oil Plume Cause Massive Fish Kills in Gulf? by Jim White