subject: Harmful Effects Of Environmentally Unsafe Solvents And Absorbents [print this page] Even one-drop-at-a-time oil spills on roads and parking lots from vehicles are enough to pollute the environment significantly. The oil spilled on the driveway, parking lots, or gas stations, not only look unsightly, but according to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, they also contribute to an estimated 80 percent of marine pollution.
When an oil spill occurs at home, most people use oil spill cleanup techniques, such as hot water pressure washing, pour paint thinner, use kitty litter, soapy water and other granular absorbents and solvents. But, the fact is that most of the techniques that you use for oil spill cleanup are not environmentally safe and cause more harm than the oil spill itself.
Even though washing down oil spills quickly removes driveway oil stains, it still leaves the driveway slippery and also proves to be harmful to the environment in the long run. Washing off oil spills results in oil being flushed into the ditches or storm sewers, which ultimately end up in streams or lakes polluting them and causing great harm to humans as well as to the wildlife.
Similarly, when you use toxic chemicals, such as detergents or dispersants on an oil spill, they break up the oil into small droplets, which dissolve for some time, but again reform and float on the water surface creating additional problems.
Gas stations often use kitty litter or other granular absorbents for oil spill cleanup. These granular absorbents soak up all the oil rather than biodegrade it. And, when the oil kitty litter is swept up and disposed off, it ends up in a land fill resulting in an environmental hazard.
On the whole, the solvents and absorbents that we use for oil spill cleanup are also harmful pollutants. Bioremediation is the only method that cleans up oil spill in an eco-friendly manner. Bioremediation is the process where the harmful hydrocarbons present in the oil are broken down into nontoxic substances by attracting the microbes present in the atmosphere. So, always make use of oil spill cleaners that make use of this technology.
