How toxic is oil?

With or without dispersant?

bump?

I mean, it all really depends on quantity/concentration.

Define "a little"

People ingest and breath in petroleum every day, but if I go wrap my lips around a gas pump and start chugging, I'm going to die. As far as it hurting your skin, I guess it could if you just let it stay on you for an hour or something.

I don't want to start up the argument again, as it has been discussed ad nauseum, but it's not toxic enough to kill the life in the gulf with the ocean floor pumping 500,000 barrels a year into the sea water.

On your skin, it's fine provided you wash it off within a reasonable amount of time.

You won't ingest it unless you're stupid. Pretty sure any marine life that ingests it will die and thus not be eaten by you.

Exception may be skrimps/oysters.

With any potential toxic chemical, you're going to want to know the method of exposure, the dose, and the duration. You seem to be interested in skin contact and ingestion. You also seem to limit your question to acute exposure rather than chronic exposure.

One place to your research is to look at what industry says. I have linked some MSDSs for crude oil: MSDS MSDS MSDS MSDS

Bear in mind that weathered oil will probably have lost most of its lighter constituents. It is the lighter constituents that generally cause the most problems.

You should also check with government agencies about exposure levels and effects.

Someone suggested examining the toxic effects of dispersants. I have no idea how you would calculate the dose because I would assume that, unlike crude oil, you cannot see the quantity of exposure or even whether you have been exposed to it at all. However, I have some MSDS links: MSDS MSDS MSDS