Dispersants used by oil companies do not work well at or near freezing temperatures. Booms to contain a spill cannot be used with icebergs floating in the water.

石油公司使用的分散剂在接近冰点的温度下效果不佳，用于防止溢油扩散的栏油栅面对漂浮的冰山也无能为力。

youdao

The EPA has just finished a batch of tests showing that dispersants mixed with oil are no more toxic to Marine life in the Gulf than oil on its own - contradicting the claims of some critics.

美国环保署刚刚完成的一系列测试显示与原油混合的化学分散剂的毒性对墨西哥湾海洋生物而言，并不比原油本身来得高；以此反驳了一些批评的声音。

youdao

Certainly, they are used to some exposure to oil. We have no idea what the response would be to concentrated oil or the dispersants.

当然，这些蠕虫已经习惯暴露在不多的油污中，但我们不知道高浓度的油污或分散剂会对它们造成什么样的影响。

youdao

Workers also used chemical dispersants to break up the oil.

VOA: special.2011.04.23

Louisiana officials say the risks come not just from oil, but from chemical dispersants being sprayed in the water.

VOA: standard.2010.06.01

But could find none. "Over time oil does dissipate and can get broken down from bacteria and other organisms in the water, but still they are putting certain dispersants on the oil that makes it sink down to the bottom."

VOA: standard.2010.05.09

If the capture vessels had to leave in the teeth of a hurricane, there would be a system for injecting dispersants into any oil that spilled out of the risers.

ECONOMIST: Fixing oil wells

And more than 800, 000 gallons of chemical "dispersants" sprayed onto the oil in a frantic attempt to keep the bulk of it offshore pose little-understood risks to organisms in the Gulf's depths, scientists and government officials say.

WSJ: Gauging Harm to Ecosystem Could Take Years

An operation was being mounted to contain and clean-up the spill, including skimmers, booms to contain the oil and aeroplanes to drop dispersants on it.

BBC: Tackling oil rig disaster 'number one priority' - Obama