"Dispersants Can Turn Oil Spills Into Toxic Mist, Research Shows"

"The dispersant chemicals used to clean up oil spills have the unintended effect of transforming crude oil into a toxic mist able to travel for miles and penetrate deep into human lungs, new research has found.

A study by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore indicates that the dispersants used during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and other large spills breaks down oil into particles so small that they can easily take to the air. Just agitate the oil-dispersant mixture with a bit of wind, some waves – even raindrops – and the ultrafine particles go airborne, researchers said.

“Once in the air they don’t come down easily, and they can travel quite far,” said Nima Afshar-Mohajer, an environmental health researcher with Johns Hopkins and the study’s lead author. “Depending on wind directions, they can easily travel 50 miles away.”"

Tristan Baurick reports for the New Orleans Times-Picayune March 21, 2018.