BP Using Chemicals To Disperse Oil

from National Public Radio

Part of BP's response to the Gulf oil spill is the use of dispersants -- chemical compounds that make oil more soluble in water. The company has bought up more than a third of the world's supply of the compounds, and has been using planes to unload hundreds of thousands of gallons of dispersants onto the oil slick. But dispersants have their own environmental impact. Ronald Tjeerdema, an aquatic toxicologist at the University of California, Davis, talks to Michele Norris about dispersants and their effect on marine life.

Broadcast Dates

• All Things Considered, May 4, 2010