I am not a researcher, specialist, toxicologists, or even what I would call truly knowledgeable… but even I understand what a Dispersant does. You use it ever day as dish soap to remove grease and the old advertisements all said – and showed – the action of breaking down the larger globs into very small drops so it will “go away”. As the kids used to say DUH!… so you are not removing any pollutant (OIL) you are using the old adage ” The real solution to Pollution is dilution”. In small quantities, dispersants will reduce the visible pollution and will speed the breakdown of the oil so bacteria can work on it. But in HUGE quantities, BP SPILL, you just spread out the pollutant
“And Now the Rest of the Story – “Gulf Spills and Dispersants = STUPID!