Detergent-Like Chemicals Turn Oil Into Microbe Snacks
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BP Plc is fighting the oil slick menacing the Gulf Coast with more than 160,000 gallons of a detergent-like chemical intended to break the oil down into tiny digestible particles.
The chemicals use the Gulf waves as a giant washtub to scrub the oil from the water, eventually dropping it to the seafloor where deep-sea microbes will feast on it for centuries, said James N. Butler, a professor emeritus of applied chemistry at Harvard University who has studied dispersants.