"BP Oil Spill Dispersants Hindered Rather Than Helped, Study Says"

"Dispersants used to encourage the oil's breakdown actually hindered microbes that were helping clean-up the huge slick, says new research."

"Chemical agents dropped from a plane on the 2010 BP oil spill in  the Gulf of Mexico removed oil from the water's surface but did not help fully degrade it, a new study indicates.

The research, led by scientists at the University of Georgia, shows that the dispersants actually suppressed oil-eating bacteria and slowed their ability to degrade oil.

After the 210-million-gallon spill from the Deepwater Horizon, the chemical agent Corexit 9500 was applied from air onto the oil slick to help it degrade and aid natural bacteria in the water remove the oil faster."

Beatrice Gitau reports for the Christian Science Monitor November 10, 2015.