ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, Spring, TX 77389, United States of America.
Independent Consultant, Tomball, TX 77375, United States of America.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2021 Dec;173(Pt B):113034. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113034. Epub 2021 Oct 25.
Controversy remains on the use of Sub-Sea Dispersant Injection (SSDI) during the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) spill to minimize the exposure of responders on surface vessels to volatile organic compounds (VOC). Here, we use extensive evidence (>90,000 VOC measurements) collected near the oil well MC252 site during the DWH spill and demonstrate at a high level of statistical confidence that SSDI enhanced the safety and health conditions of the responders at the water surface through the reduction of airborne VOC concentrations in a dose-dependent manner. VOC levels on ships' decks were clearly diminished (p < 0.001) during subsea dispersant use, and incidents of peak concentrations (>50 ppm VOC) that could have been an immediate concern to worker health were reduced by a factor of ~6 to 19 when dispersants were delivered at the intended rate. SSDI thus played an important role in minimizing potential exposure to VOC, and should be embedded in guidelines and regulations for dispersant use.
在深海地平线（DWH）溢油事件中，使用海底分散剂注射（SSDI）以尽量减少水面船只上的应对人员接触挥发性有机化合物（VOC）的问题仍存在争议。在这里，我们利用在 DWH 溢油事件期间在 MC252 油井附近收集的大量证据（>90,000 个 VOC 测量值），并以高度的统计置信度证明 SSDI 通过降低空气中 VOC 浓度以剂量依赖的方式显著提高了水面应对人员的安全和健康状况。在使用海底分散剂期间，船舶甲板上的 VOC 水平明显降低（p<0.001），并且当以预定速率投加分散剂时，峰值浓度（>50 ppm VOC）的事件（这可能是工人健康的直接关注点）减少了约 6 至 19 倍。因此，SSDI 在尽量减少潜在的 VOC 暴露方面发挥了重要作用，并且应该嵌入分散剂使用的指南和法规中。
