Friday, August 20, 2010

Hazards of Oil Dispersants

1 comment:

  1. Susan Shaw said that the oil and chemical dispersant are more hazardous and toxic together than they are apart. She made a good point by saying that the coral and sea grass are not affected by the oil, but the mangroves were affected. But when they but in the chemicals, the coral and sea grass were affected, but it saved the mangroves. This is saying that no matter how hard we try, something will still be affected by the oil spill. Shaw also was talking about the effect that this is putting on the animals. All sea life can die by ingesting the oil. Whales and dolphins can fall ill because of the way they breathe. Predators, such as sharks, can die by ingesting prey that is sick because of the oil. When the oil gets on the birds' feathers, the birds' natural reaction is to clean themselves up. But then they do this,the oil that is ingested kills them. The oil spill is affecting turtles too! They lay their eggs on the beach, but the beach is contaminated, so it is another obstacle that they have to get over. They already have to worry about predators, but now oil? Sea turtles are already an endangered species, and this is not helping. On top of that, turtles also can fall ill by breathing in the chemicals. The government is saying that around 74% of the oil has been burned, skimmed, evaporation, captured directly, or eating by micro-organisms.

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