Diaz, an ecologist with expertise in bottom-dwelling communities and low-oxygen marine "dead zones," briefed members of the Congress and their staff on the ecological trade-offs inherent in dispersant use.
"Applying dispersants represents a decision to increase the hydrocarbon load on one part of the ecosystem while reducing the load on another," said Diaz. "It decreases risk at the surface and shoreline while increasing potential risk to organisms in the water column and on the seafloor."
Diaz stressed that assessing the long-term risks and impacts of dispersant use will require study of the Gulf ecosystem as a whole. He says "We now have small drops of oil dissolved throughout the water column in large areas of the Gulf, so resident organisms can encounter oil during different stages of their life cycle, and throughout the food chain."
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