User:Dahlia88/sandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oil dispersants are a mixture of surfactants and solvents that break up an oil slick into droplets. By breaking up the oil slick into droplets, microbes and the environment can biodegrade the oil easier. A mixture of oil and water is normally unstable, but can be stabilized by the addition of surfactants. Surfactants improve their interactions by standing at the oil-water interface thereby decreasing the surface energy. Dispersants have had negative effects in the environment due to their toxicity, however reformulated dispersants have been accepted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).[1]