Oil spills from ship traffic or oil production represent a huge threat to the environment. A controlled and thick oil slick is crucial in relation to combatting oil spills, not least for Arctic waters, before introducing the oil spill response method in situ burning. Recently, herding agents have been introduced, with success, as a measure to contain and thicken oil spills, when sprayed to the perimeter of the slick. In this study, we evaluated potential environmental impacts of using herding agents. Toxicity, bioaccumulation and biodegradability of the two herders ThickSlick 6535 (TS6535) and Siltech OP‐40 (OP‐40) were studied in laboratory set-ups with Arctic water and the high Arctic copepod, Calanus hyperboreus. TS6535 was found to biodegrade rapidly within 7 days, and did not seem to bioaccumulate in the copepods or affect their grazing activity. Tests with OP-40 showed bioaccumulation in the copepods, sublethal effects (as reduced grazing activity) and limited biodegradation. The results thus indicate that OP-40 may possibly pose a risk to the Arctic marine environment. The data and knowledge from the tests poses valuable input to assess the potential environmental impacts from using herders in Arctic waters in connection with oil spill response. However, more knowledge is still needed to fully understand the fate and effect of herders in the environment; this also includes possible combined and/or cumulative effects from herders and oil.

船舶交通或石油生产造成的石油泄漏对环境构成了巨大威胁。在引入就地燃烧溢油响应方法之前，受控且厚的浮油对于打击溢油至关重要，尤其是对于北极水域。最近，已经成功地引入了驱赶剂，当喷洒到浮油的周边时，它可以作为控制和增稠漏油的措施。在这项研究中，我们评估了使用放牧剂的潜在环境影响。在实验室中使用北极水和高北极桡足类Calanus hyperboreus研究了两种牧民 ThinSlick 6535 (TS6535) 和 Siltech OP-40 (OP-40) 的毒性、生物蓄积性和生物降解性. 发现 TS6535 在 7 天内快速生物降解，并且似乎不会在桡足类中生物积累或影响它们的放牧活动。使用 OP-40 进行的测试表明，桡足类动物会产生生物累积、亚致死效应（如放牧活动减少）和有限的生物降解。因此，结果表明 OP-40 可能对北极海洋环境构成威胁。来自测试的数据和知识为评估在北极水域使用牧民与石油泄漏响应相关的潜在环境影响提供了宝贵的投入。然而，要充分了解牧民在环境中的命运和影响，还需要更多的知识；这还包括可能来自牧民和石油的综合和/或累积影响。