Nalco Oil Dispersant Information

Contact Information

Global Nalco Locations
Local Sales Offices
Energy Services Contacts

Nalco Company
Corporate Headquarters
1601 W. Diehl Road
Naperville, Il 60563-1198
630-305-1000 Phone
630-305-2900 Fax

Nalco Energy Services Headquarters
7705 Highway 90-A
Sugar Land, TX 77478
281-263-7000 Phone

Nalco Oil Dispersant Information

Following the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, Nalco was called upon by the response team to provide dispersants to help minimize the effects of the incident on the shoreline and other sensitive marine sites. Nalco immediately shipped its supplies to the region, and have steadily increased production in order to respond to continued government requests.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has done, and continues to do, extensive monitoring and data collection in relation to the use of dispersants as a remediation tool in the Gulf oil spill. The results of the monitoring continue to show that COREXIT products are safe and effective.

Data Points

A recently completed study by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) concludes that 80% of samples showed no detectable level of 2-butoxyethanol and the remaining samples were well below the NIOSH-recommended limit. A pdf outlining OSHA's findings is available here. A New York Times article about those findings is available here.
Ongoing air and water monitoring continue to show no evidence of unhealthy levels of chemicals related to COREXIT dispersants. EPA Website on Gulf Oil Spill
Results of monitoring indicate that subsurface use of the dispersant is effective at reducing the amount of oil from reaching the surface – and can do so with the use of less dispersant than is needed when the oil does reach the surface. EPA Website on Dispersant Use.
- A recent story on ABC World News Tonight indicated that dispersants are playing a role in the removal of oil from the surface.

Chemical dispersants are designed to form smaller droplets when mixed with oil. These smaller droplets are more readily available to be biodegraded by micro-organisms. EPA has published research on the biodegradation of dispersed oil which suggests that the dispersant speeds the biodegradation of oil. Based upon this research, the rate of biodegradation increases almost 50% in the presence of COREXIT 9500 vs. oil without dispersant. EPA Website on Dispersant Use
“We have been taking samples again, of worker chemical exposures. Again, on the beaches, in the swamps, on the boats, everywhere that workers are. And I will just let you know, we can discuss this a little more, that we have found no exposure levels to any chemicals that are of any concern. The main problem we've been seeing down there, the main concern that we've had for worker health and safety has to do with heat. As you know, people are working in very high heat conditions. Very often they are also working with Tyvek suits with chemical protective suits, gloves, which exacerbates the heat problem. We've had a number of incidents that we've had to deal with with heat including some hospitalizations. So we're very concerned about that in conjunction with fatigue problems from the long hours that people are working.” Jordan Barab, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Press Briefing by National Incident Commander June 23, 2010
Dispersants, in additon to dispersing oil, are being used to limit workers' exposure to volatile organic compounds coming out of the oil. "We did some video of the oil rigs last week when I was out there and in the background one of the offshore supply vessels was actually spraying water all around the discovery enterprise. That was to put down volatile organic compounds that were coming up out of the oil... There actually is a threat to personal safety and health there on those vapors. Dispersants put those down." Adm. Thad Allen, U.S. Coast Guard. Press Conference, June 7, 2010.
Early reports of dispersant and oil from the Gulf oil spill being found blue crab larvae have not been conclusively proven according to the reporting universities themselves in this article in the Orlando Sentinel.
Many media outlets and agencies are tracking what is happening to the oil in the Gulf. Below are links to a number of media stories analyzing where the oil is going. We will continue to monitor and update this list with new stories.

We are deeply committed to helping the government during this difficult period and to assisting the people of the Gulf recover as soon as possible. Recognizing that the public has questions about dispersants and how they work, we have compiled a list of Frequently Asked Questions and compiled recent commentary from government officials as well as energy and environmental experts, who provide insight into the role of these safe and highly-effective water treatment products.

We encourage you to share this information with others and to check back periodically as we post new information about the recovery efforts. In addition, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/Nalco_News and twitter.com/NalcoCompany.

Nalco CEO Erik Fyrwald discusses dispersant use on Good Morning America (Saturday, May 22).