Tag Archives: Canada Approves Corexit

HAVE WE LEARNED NOTHING? – Canada Approves Controversial Chemical Corexit for Ocean Oil Spills

CorexitThe Canadian federal government has quietly approved the use of a highly controversial chemical for dispersing ocean oil spills, despite growing scientific evidence it doesn’t always work as claimed and even intensifies the toxicity of oil. Last month Environment Canada released regulations establishing a list of approved “treating agents” for oil spills that included Corexit EC 9500A, which sinks the oil and spreads it through the water column. Exxon developed Corexit five decades ago to disperse and sink oil and avoid ugly petroleum slicks on beaches. In 2010 BP used almost two million gallons of Corexit during its catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, prompting a raft of scientific studies that challenged its effectiveness and revived concerns about how such emulsifiers can make oil more toxic. Read the rest here 12:12

Corexit 9500A and 9527A were sprayed in the Gulf during the Deepwater Horizon spill. – To read, Click here