a small dose of oil dispersants or the dark side of dispersants or oil dispersants: our right to...
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A Small Dose of Oil Dispersants
orThe Dark Side of Dispersants
or Oil Dispersants: Our Right to
KnowSteven G. Gilbert, PhD, DABT
INND/Toxipediawww.toxipedia.orgsgilbert@innd.org
INNDInstitute of Neurotoxicology
& Neurological DisordersToxipedia - www.toxipedia.orgPutting scientific
information in the context of history, society, and
culture. http://www.toxipedia.org/display/toxipedia/Oil+Dispersant
What do these have in common?
Oil DispersantsPesticides
Flame Retardants
Oil Spills are US Gulf - BP
Kalamazoo RiverChina - NigeriaExxon Valdez
and .....
What is Crude Oil?
• mixture of hydrocarbons• lighter hydrocarbons methane, ethane, propane
and butane occur as gases• heavier ones from pentane and up are in the form
of liquids or solids• various aromatic hydrocarbons while the other
organic compounds contain nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur, and trace amounts of metals such as iron, nickel, copper, mercury, and vanadium
Oil Dispersants
Soap the Basics•Sodium or potassium salts of fatty acids •Made from common oils or fats with a strong
alkaline solution lye•Soap molecules • hydrophilic end, which dissolves in water• hydrophobic end, dissolves nonpolar
grease molecules
Soap / detergents
Soap a bit of History• First production of soap-like materials 2800 BC in Ancient
Babylon• Babylonian clay tablet from 2200 BC - formula for soap
consisting of water, alkali and cassia oil • Sapo, Latin for soap, first appears in Pliny the Elder's Historia
Naturalis, 80 AD discusses the manufacture of soap from tallow and ashes • 15th century - professional manufacture of soap Provence,
France• 16th century, more refined soap - using vegetable oils (such as
olive oil) instead of animal fats. • 1800s start of high-quality, transparent soap in London
Oil landfall in Gulf
Released4.9 million barrels (780×103 m3), or 205.8 million gallons of crude oil.
1,100,000 US gallons chemical dispersants were sprayed at the wellhead five thousand feet under the sea
Methods of Oil CleanUpSkim it offSoak it upBurn it offBreak it down
Turbulence and Oil dispersants (nature) (synthetic) ….. then oil degrading bacteria
What are oil dispersants?Common tool to remove
oil slicks from the water surface and increase the oil's rate of biodegradation.
By removing large slicks, oil dispersants are intended to reduce harmful oil exposures to birds, fish, and other wildlife.
Prevent oil from contaminating coast lines, estuaries, and beaches
Separates an oil slick into small droplets of oil
Water turbulence breaks up droplets more and disperses them in water column
Oil droplets consumed by naturally occurring bacteria or carried out into the open ocean
How do oil dispersants work?
What’s in oil dispersants?COREXIT 9500
Distillates, petroleum, hyrdrotreated light
Propylene GlycolOrganic sulfonic acid
salt
COREXIT 9527• 2-Butoxyethanol• Propylene Glycol•Organic sulfonic acid
salt
Other Ingredients:• Butanedioic acid, 2-sulfo-, 1,4-bis(2-ethylhexyl) 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) derivs 2
• Propanol, 1-(2-butoxy-1-methylethoxy)
2-Butoxyethanol
Gulf workers reported irritation of the nose and eyes, headache, a metallic taste in the mouth, and vomiting
"should be handled as a CARCINOGEN--WITH EXTREME CAUTION“~NJ Dept Health
Prolonged or repeated exposures can cause damage to the liver, kidneys, lymph system, blood and blood-forming organs
Propylene Glycol
Clear, syrupy liquid that lacks almost any odor or taste.
"generally recognized as safe" for use in foodbut studies on the effects of different types of
exposures to humans and the environment do not exist or need to be further examined
skin irritant, repeated exposure to may cause sensitization, or allergy
Sulfonic acid salt
sulfonate is a salt or ester of a sulfonic acid. It contains the functional group R-SO2O-
sulfonic acids tend to be strong acids
Protecting or Threatening the Environment?
Oil dispersants increase exposure and uptake of hydrocarbons by fishCardiac problems, fluid balance issues, and
spine and skull deformation of fish embryosEarly life stage of aquatic organisms highly
sensitive fish, crustaceans, and mollusks Exposure Damage to
Species
Relationship between Temperature and Toxicity
Water temperature Toxicity to aquatic life
85-90 degrees surface temperature of Gulf
Negative effects on shrimp and scallops reversible at low concentrations, but the higher the concentration, the more likely that the effects will be irreversible
An Ecological Experiment“More than 1m barrels of chemicals have been deployed so far. This is common practice for oil spills on the surface; using them in bulk at depth, as in the Gulf, is an ecological experiment.”-The Economist- July 15, 2010
Safer/more effective oil dispersant products
available?12 of 18 EPA approved oil dispersants are
more effective at dispersing Southern Louisiana Crude Oil than the Corexit products used in Deep Water Horizon
14 of the 18 products are less toxic to a common species of fish (which one?) than the Corexit products currently in use
-Source: EPA
Problems with this experiment
Dr. Paul Anastas EPA “Toxicity tests not conducted at the same pressures and temperatures where much of the dispersant was applied – 5,000 feet beneath the surface at the wellhead. That leaves uncertainties about how the dispersant might affect the ecosystem at that depth.”
Precautionary Principle“When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be take even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.”Wingspread Conference, 1998.
Precautionary Principle• Setting goals (Health indicators)• Taking preventive action in the face of uncertainty• Shifting the burden of responsibility to the
proponents of an activity (Who benefits?)• Exploring a wide range of alternatives to possibly
harmful actions (Is it necessary?)• Increasing public participation in decision making
(transparency of information & environmental justice)
References✦ COMPARATIVE TOXICITY OF TWO OIL DISPERSANTS, SUPERDISPERSANT-25 AND
COREXIT 9527, TO A RANGE OF COASTAL SPECIES Alan Scarlett, Tamara S. Galloway et al.... Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Vol. 24, No. 5, pp. 1219–1227, 2005
✦ "CDC - Oil Spill Response - Dispersant Information for Health Professionals." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 19 May 2010. Web. 03 June 2010. <http://emergency.cdc.gov/gulfoilspill2010/dispersants_hcp_info.asp>.
✦ US EPA EPA Response to BP Spill in the Gulf of Mexico http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/
✦ Toxipedia - Oil Dispersants - http://www.toxipedia.org/display/toxipedia/Oil+Dispersant
Toxipedia www.toxipedia.org
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A product of the Institute of Neurotoxicology and Neurological Disorders (INND) For more information contact Steven G. Gilbert at sgilbert@innd.org
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For more informationwww.toxipedia.org
sgilbert@innd.org
http://www.toxipedia.org/display/toxipedia/Oil+
Dispersant
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