Reply to Prince et al.: Ability of chemical dispersants to reduce oil spill impacts remains unclear.

Chemical dispersants are applied to oil-contaminated areas as a primary response to oceanic oil spills. The impacts of dispersants on microbial community composition and activity, particularly hydrocarbon turnover, are debated. Kleindienst et al. (1) demonstrated that Corexit 9500, a dispersant, can suppress the activity of oil-degrading microorganisms. Chemically enhanced water-accommodated fractions (CEWAFs) were used for these experiments because the deepwater plume that formed following the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) blowout consisted of the water-accommodated fraction: Roughly half of the discharged oil, along with dispersants applied at the wellhead, was entrained in the deepwater plume (2). Using CEWAFs assured an appropriate simulation of the DWH plume chemistry. Prince et al. (3) claim that the method used to produce CEWAFs would leave … [↵][1]5To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: mjoye{at}uga.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1