Pollution response products

Response product testing
Oil spill response often involves the use of chemicals which help to break down or recover the pollutant.

Dispersants
Dispersants are liquids used to cause oil to form a suspension in the water column. By disseminating the oil in the water column, dispersant enhances degradation by the natural environment and helps to avoid oil arriving onshore.

Surface washing agents
These are liquid agents used to clean rocks and other oiled surfaces on the shoreline. Non-emulsifying products facilitate the desorption of the pollutant by the rocks, thus allowing recovery downstream. Emulsifying products also facilitate the desorption of the pollutant by the rocks, then help to disperse the pollutant in the natural environment.

Sorbents
Sorbents are solid products used to fix the pollutant (by impregnation), in order to facilitate recovery.

Demulsifiers
Demulsifiers are liquids which break up water-in-oil emulsions that have been recovered onshore or at sea.

Bioremediation agents
These products are designed to encourage or speed up the biodegradation of oil, and are used onshore to help restore polluted sites or to treat polluted waste.