There are numerous forms of absorbent material available to absorb hydrocarbon and other liquid spills
Absorbents vary in costs, consistency of material, efficiency of use, source, sustainable renewability (or not) and method of disposal.
Some examples of natural absorbents are:
Peat absorbent
Sunsorb
Wood fibre absorbent
Pulped cellulose fibre
Crushed sunflower seeds
Straw
Hay
Sawdust
Not all of these absorbents are efficient, and not all of these are safe to use. e.g. sawdust or wood fibre may have been previously treated with chemicals to prevent rot or insect infestation and you might not want to inhale dust from this kind of product.
While it is preferable to use a natural absorbent from a renewable resource that is bio-degradable and safe to dispose of via land farming bio-remediation or hazardous waste site, still sometimes it is better to use a synthetic absorbent.
Choices of which absorbent to use are based on:
whether the hydrocarbon spill is indoors or outdoors
what method of disposal will be used e.g. you would not use an absorbent with a very low efficiency of absorbtion if the cost of disposal is very high. The savings on the cost of the absorbent is negated by the high costs of huge volumes for disposal.
can a dusty natural absorbent be used
do you need a dust free or static free absorbent because of sensitive electronic, laboratory or food preparation environments.
Suppliers of: oil absorbents, peatsorb, sunsorb. pads, booms, cushions and spill equipment
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Absorbents 
