EPA Petitioned to Ban Use of Oil Dispersants Found Toxic to Marine Life
A petition filed by the non-profit environmental group Earth Island Institute is asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ban use of two oil dispersants used in the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster from use during oil spill response.
The petition announced Aug. 19 in Berkeley, Calif. identified the chemical dispersants as Corexit 9527A and 9500A, products currently authorized under the National Contingency Plan for use in oil spill response.
According to key studies compiled in the petition, the Corexit dispersants are potent respiratory and skin sensitizers that cause chronic breathing difficulties and reoccurring skin rashes and potent carcinogens that trigger multiple cancer pathways.
The studies also show the dispersants to be potent neurotoxins that cause brain damage and potent teratogens that disrupt development of fetuses, cause specific damage to the blood respiratory and cardiovascular systems and more.
The manufacturer of Corexit dispersants announced in November 2022 the discontinuation of its dispersants and shoreline cleaner products effective immediately, but an unknown volume of Corexit dispersant stockpiles still remains in every coastal state, according to Earth Island Institute.
The dispersants were produced by Nalco Holding Co., an indirect subsidiary of Ecolab. Corexit was originally developed by the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey to be applied by aerial spraying or spraying from ships directly onto an oil slick.
On contact with the dispersant oil that would otherwise float on the surface of the water is emulsified into tiny droplets and sinks or remains suspended in the water.
Studies to date have indicated that the dispersant is toxic to marine life and Corexit has been shown to exert a synergistic effect when mixed with oil, increasing its toxicity.
“The science has finally caught up with oil dispersants and it shows these Corexit products cannot be used safely during oil spill response,” said Riki Ott, a marine toxicologist in Cordova, Alaska, and director of Earth Island Institute’s ALERT Project, the primary author of the petition.
