On or about May 19, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator directed BP within 24 hours of issuance to identify and to change to chemical dispersants that are less toxic than Nalco’s Corexit® dispersants BP had been using.

On May 20, 2010, BP objected to changing dispersants and notified the EPA that it would continue using Nalco’s Corexit.

BP and clean-up defendants used and, upon information and belief, continue to use the dispersants Corexit® 9500 and 9527 (more than 1.8 million gallons to date) to disperse the crude oil…

BP continued to direct third parties to apply Corexit for several months after the EPA’s initial order to stop, posing untold health risks to cleanup workers and subjecting the Gulf ecosystem to potentially irreparable damage.

As for the effects on human health, consider this from an Oct. 3 Al Jazeera report:

…[S]ince July 2010, Al Jazeera has spoken with scores of Gulf residents, fishermen, and clean-up workers who have blamed negative health effects on the chemicals from BP’s oil and dispersants.

… Al Jazeera recently spoke with Steven Aguinaga, a 33-year-old father of three who confirmed that he acquired “critically high levels of chemicals” in his body after swimming with his friend Merrick Vallian at Fort Walton Beach, Florida, in July 2010.

“At the time I had no knowledge of what dispersants were, but within a few hours, we were drained of energy and not feeling good,” said Aguinaga. “I’ve been extremely sick ever since.”