Chemical dispersants used in the Gulf of Mexico to control an oil spill are no more toxic than crude oil itself, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said.
The U.S. Coast Guard is under fire for the use of chemical dispersants meant to break up the oil on the surface of the water.
U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., chairman of the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee, told CNN Monday that Coast Guard officials ignored
warnings from the EPA on their use.
The EPA released results from tests that showed dispersants mixed with oil "are generally no more toxic to the aquatic test species than oil alone."
The EPA released a peer-reviewed study of the toxicity of mixture of eight oil dispersants and Louisiana sweet crude. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said in a statement her agency recognized that there were environmental trade-offs with the use of dispersants but said their use "virtually ended" when BP capped the leaking Gulf of Mexico well in July.
The EPA said it has used 200 gallons of dispersant since the well was capped July 15, though monitoring by the agency continues.