Dispersants

Dispersants are a mixture of solvents and soap-like substances that break oil into small droplets.
These smaller droplets may be easier for microbes to use as food, but they can also appear as food to lots of small organisms that can eat it and die from poisoning.
Dispersants decrease the presence of oil on the surface, but increase the presence of oil underwater.
During the Gulf oil spill, dispersants were released at the surface. However, for the first time, dispersants were also injected at the wellhead leak site, very deep underwater. Scientists think this subsurface injection maybe responsible for plumes of oil that appeared deep in the water, and the presence of oil on the seafloor today. Learn More

Brown represents oil. Blue is the water layer. Green is dispersant. Pink represents surfactants.