Fate of oil dispersants in aquatic environment

Chemical oil dispersants have been used throughout most of the world to combat oil spills. However, their fate in aquatic environment remains uncertain. This study was conducted to investigate the persistence of five oil dispersants in the aquatic environment. The results indicate that petroleum utilizing bacteria possess high potential for the biodegradation of oil dispersants. The order of biodegradability for the five oil dispersants was as follows: Magnus 101 > BP1100X>BP1100>Linco No. 4>Corexit 8666. From the results of this study and a review of the literature data, it can be concluded that treatment of oil spills with chemical dispersants is unlikely to cause any build-up of organic contaminants in the aquatic environment.