Free Republic

larmed by widespread reports of visibly sick, deformed seafood coming out of the Gulf of Mexico, state officials have closed area waters to shrimping this morning (April 23). The waters will be closed indefinitely as scientists run tests in an effort to get a handle on a situation that is fast becoming a full-blown crisis on the Gulf Coast. The closures – including all waters in the Mississippi Sound, Mobile Bay, areas of Bon Secour, Wolf Bay and Little Lagoon – mark the first official step in responding to increasingly urgent reports from fishermen and scientists of grotesquely disfigured seafood...

WASHINGTON -- A new federal study of chemical dispersants used to break up oil in the Gulf of Mexico shows that when mixed with oil, the dispersant is less toxic to aquatic life than oil alone. The study also show that when mixed with oil, the dispersant used in the Gulf, Corexit 9500A, is no more or less toxic than oil mixtures with other chemical dispersants approved for use in oil spills.

The US Environmental Protection Agency released peer reviewed results from the first round of its own independent toxicity testing on eight oil dispersants. EPA conducted testing to ensure that decisions about ongoing dispersant use in the Gulf of Mexico continue to be grounded in the best available science.EPA's results indicated that none of the eight dispersants tested, including the product in use in the Gulf, displayed biologically significant endocrine disrupting activity. While the dispersant products alone – not mixed with oil - have roughly the same impact on aquatic life, JD-2000 and Corexit 9500 were generally less toxic to small...

After watching this I am convinced the dispersants were a terrible idea ... New Look at Oil Under Water http://www.yahoo.com/

Rebecca Renner/Pennsylvania, US  More than two weeks after the Deepwater Horizons oil rig exploded off the coast of Louisiana in the US, efforts are still underway to stop thousands of litres of oil a day spilling out from the well a mile down on the ocean floor. The operation to clear up the spill, and limit its environmental impact, has involved a massive and unprecedented use of oil spill dispersants - blends of surfactants and solvents designed to prevent oil slicks by breaking up the oil. Aircraft and boats have released nearly 160,000 US gallons (605,660 litres) of dispersant at the surface of the...