What is “hydrophobic” and why is it important?
Hydrophobic means “fear of water.” A sorbent that is hydrophobic can be used on top of water for the absorption of hydrocarbons off that water; it will float for a period of time and will not “fall out” or sink. It is important for a sorbent to be hydrophobic so a response team can place a sorbent on contaminated water and have time to go and take care of another more important part of the spill. They can then come back later to clean up the spill on water without risk of that contaminant spreading over a larger area. P.O.L. Sorb is hydrophobic and has been tested to show that it can float on top of water for at least 51 days (reference Test Data & Results section).
