Chemistry in the Clean-Up: Oil Dispersants

Image from Kenneth Lee’s presentation

July 29, 2010, 12:00 -1:30 p.m.
SVC 202/203 Capitol Visitors Center

Invitation

Summary

As part of the response to the Deepwater Horizon oil leak, chemical dispersants are being utilized on the ocean surface and, for the first time, underwater. Dispersants work like dishwashing detergent — they break up oil into droplets, enabling it to mix more easily with the surrounding water. This presents a trade-off: Mitigating damage to the shoreline and surface means exposing the seafloor and water column to additional oil. This briefing brings together experts on the effects of dispersants to discuss how they work, the ongoing efforts in the Gulf, the toxicological and ecological trade-offs of their use, and the future of dispersant technologies.

Contact Science & the Congress Briefing Series

Cosponsors

American Institute of Chemical Engineers, ACS Science & the Congress Project

Honorary Host

The Senate Science & Technology Caucus
Co-chairs:
Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)

Opening Remarks

Welcome Glenn Ruskin Director, ACS Public Affairs
Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN)	http://web.1.c2.audiovideoweb.com/1c2web3536/congressional_briefings/7-29-10/acs_sc_july29_Lamar_Alexander.flv

Speakers

	Deborah Grubbe, Moderator Operations and Safety Solutions and Institute of Sustainability Bio │ Email
	Kenneth Lee Fisheries and Oceans Canada Presentation Slides Bio │ Email	http://web.1.c2.audiovideoweb.com/1c2web3536/congressional_briefings/7-29-10/acs_sc_july29_Kenneth_Lee.flv
	Robert Diaz College of William and Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science Presentation Slides Bio │ Email	http://web.1.c2.audiovideoweb.com/1c2web3536/congressional_briefings/7-29-10/acs_sc_july29_Robert_Diaz.flv
	Nancy Kinner Univ. of New Hampshire Coastal Response Research Center Presentation Slides Bio │ Email	http://web.1.c2.audiovideoweb.com/1c2web3536/congressional_briefings/7-29-10/acs_sc_july29_Nancy_Kinner.flv

See Page for Oil Dispersant Symposium at ACS National Meeting, Boston, August 24, 2010

Related Content

National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling

• Final Report

Congressional Research Service

• “Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: The Fate of the Oil,” R41531, Jonathan Ramseur, December 16, 2010

Data.gov

• Deepwater Horizon Response

Coastal Response Research Center Dispersant Working Group

• Main Site
• Deepwater Horizon Dispersant Use Meeting Report, May 26-27, 2010
• Research & Development Needs for Making Decisions Regarding Dispersing Oil, April, 2006

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

• EPA Response to BP Spill
• “Comparative Toxicity of LA Sweet Crude Oil (LSC) & Chemically Dispersed LSC to Two Gulf of Mexico Aquatic Test Species,” July 31, 2010
• Dispersant Toxicity Testing Report, June 30, 2010
• Dispersants and the BP spill
• Oil spill science/research
• Lisa Jackson testimony July 15, 2010

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

• Response to the Deepwater Horizon Spill
• Oil Dispersant Application and Monitoring Fact Sheet

Department of the Interior

• Deepwater Horizon Response

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

• News Release: “WHOI Scientists Map and Confirm Origin of Large, Underwater Hydrocarbon Plume in Gulf,” August 19, 2010

National Academy of Sciences

• “Oil Spill Dispersants: Efficacy and Effects,” 2005, Report-in-Brief
• “Oil Spill Dispersants: Efficacy and Effects,” 2005, Report and free Executive Summary

Institute of Medicine

• Review of the Federal Response to Health Effects Associated with the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, September 2010 Workshop

Congressional Research Service

• “The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Coastal Wetland and Wildlife Impacts and Response,” R41311, July 7, 2010

Articles and Blog Posts Related to Briefing and Dispersant Issue

• Act4Chemistry
• New York Times, September 19, 2010
• CBS News, September 14, 2010
• New York Times, September 13, 2010
• CNN Opinion, August 25, 2010
• New York Times Greenwire, August 24, 2010
• Science Insider Oil Spill articles, 2010
• New York Times Greenwire, July 30, 2010
• Huffington Post, July 29, 2010
• Scientific American, August 2, 2010
• MSNBC, August 2, 2010
• CNN.com, August 2, 2010
• Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences, July 29, 2010

Chemical and Engineering News

• “New Oil Clean-Up Technique Tested,” May 7, 2010, Vol. 88, No. 19
• “Cleaning Up the Gulf Oil Spill,” May 17, 2010, Vol. 88, No. 20
• “Dispersed Oil Raises Concerns,” May 24, 2010, Vol. 88, No. 21
• “Obama Beefs Up Oil Spill Response,” May 31, 2010, Vol. 88, No. 22
• “BP’s Ever-Growing Oil Spill,” June 14, 2010, Vol. 88, No. 24
• “Health Risks in the Gulf,” July 5, 2010, Vol. 88, No. 27
• “Plumes Finger Oil Spill,” August 2, 2010, Vol. 88, No. 31
• “Dispersants’ Effects Debated,” August 9, 2010, Vol. 88, No. 32
• “Microbes to the Rescue,” August 9, 2010, Vol. 88, No. 32

Environmental Science and Technology

• “Fate of Dispersants Associated with the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill,” January 26 (Web), 2011, DOI: 10.1021/es103838p
• “Analysis of Eight Oil Spill Dispersants Using Rapid, In Vitro Tests for Endocrine and Other Biological Activity,” July 6 (Web), 2010, Vol. 44, No. 15
• “A Role for Analytical Chemistry in Advancing our Understanding of the Occurrence, Fate, and Effects of Corexit Oil Dispersants,” July 27 (Web), Vol. 44, No. 16