There are very many oil-contaminated harbors and coastal environments in the world today. Massive, headline-grabbing spills like Exxon Valdez clearly demonstrate the need for rapid, effective, and environmentally safe cleanup strategies.

Oil spills can have a variety of effects on the natural marine systems in which they occur. Oil can physically smother marine animals, plants, and sediments. Sizable spills can also disrupt normal nutrient cycles as a result of the influx of hydrocarbons to the system. This can potentially alter the diversity of energy pathways within the natural microbial community by selectively favoring those species capable of utilizing and breaking down hydrocarbons.

Oil spills are toxic to many types of marine life. Toxic effects may be manifested as negative effects on respiration, metabolism and growth, reproduction, behavior, molting and other physiological processes. Toxicity is chiefly attributable to the water-soluble component of the oil spill. The soluble compounds are the ones most likely to come in contact with or be taken up by organisms in the vicinity of the spill. Of concern, as natural breakdown processes convert complex hydrocarbons from crude (unrefined petroleum) into less complex forms these new products tend also to become water-soluble. The potential therefore remains for persistent spills to continue to impact local organisms even as natural breakdown progresses.

Many of the hundreds of different petrochemical (oil-derived) compounds known as total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) - like hexane, benzene, and naphthalene - also find their way into the environment. These are often highly toxic, with effects in humans ranging from headaches, nausea and dizziness to organ damage and even carcinogenicity.