The consistency in toxicity values for dispersant in the
Dispersed Oil and the Dispersant treatments, combined
with the far lower LC50 values for hydrocarbons in the
Dispersed Oil than in the Oil WAF treatments, strongly
suggests that the dispersant itself may be responsible for
the high toxicity of dispersed oil. This finding contrasts
with previous suggestions that the toxicity of dispersed oil
is due to elevated levels of oil hydrocarbons in the water,
or to some change in the structure or bioavailability of the
oil hydrocarbons resulting from chemical dispersion