 The toxicological work being conducted by Ocean Alliance and their partners at the Wise Lab was primarily aimed at determining the chronic, long-term impact of the incident-in particular the geno-toxic impacts of oil (and compounds found in oil) and dispersants as they work their way up the trophic food chain.The long-term effects are believed by many to be far more significant than the short-term effects, a belief corroborated by on-going research in the Gulf of Mexico and the fact that the impacts of the Exxon Valdez spill (which occurred in 1985 in Prince William Sound, Alaska) are still being studied over 25 years after the initial accident.In terms of total discharge of oil, this spill was approximately one tenth of the Deepwater Horizon spill.