Bioactivity of oil dispersant used in the Deepwater Horizon cleanup operation.

摘要

On April 20, 2010, a well-head blowout on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform resulted in a major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which released 4.9 million barrels (205.8 million gallons) of crude oil for nearly 3 months until the wellhead was successfully capped on July 15, 2010. In response, a major cleanup effort involving nearly 48,000 workers was initiated. One approach used in the cleanup effort was application of approximately 1.84 million gallons of chemical dispersant in an effort to break up the oil slick into more rapidly degradable oil droplets. Although some dispersant was applied subsurface, the majority was sprayed from airplanes or surface craft onto the oil slicks. Therefore, inhalation of oil dispersant, as well as a dermal exposure of workers, was possible during remediation efforts.