Dispersants are an important tool for responding to major oil spills. They are essentially a bioremediation tool, allowing oil to disperse into tiny droplets (30m), which are impossible to replicate in the laboratory. Laboratory experiments aimed at following the biodegradation of dispersed oil usually show minimal stimulation of the rate of biodegradation, but this can be attributed to the fact that small quantities of oil disperse quite well even in the absence of chemical dispersant. We show here that when the experiments are conducted so that the comparison is between a slick and a dispersed oil, the rate of biodegradation is dramatically stimulated by effective application of the dispersant Corexit 9500.

Corexit 9500<sup>®</sup> substantially increases the biodegradation of otherwise undispersed oil

245th National Meeting (2013)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.

Corexit 9500® substantially increases the biodegradation of otherwise undispersed oil

Corexit 9500^® substantially increases the biodegradation of otherwise undispersed oil