[4] The waxes that comprise PRP are natural hydrocarbons making them oleophilic (having a strong affinity for oils rather than water) and hydrophobic.

This led to NASA’s earlier experiments being refined by independent researchers and Pittsburgh based company “PetrolRem” in partnership with JPL and Marshal Space Flight Center scientists.

[1] These experiments were able to improve on earlier NASA techniques and developed proprietary methods to counteract the effects of gravity that yielded microspheres up to 500 microns in size.

In the mid 1990s PRP was tested and evaluated by the National Environmental Technology Applications Corporation in partnership with the EPA and the University of Pittsburgh and found to be “capable of significantly accelerating the natural rate of diesel oil degradation in near-environmental conditions.” PRP microspheres were found to be highly oleophilic as well as hydrophobic making it an ideal solution for hydrocarbon spills that contaminate water such as ocean spills, mangroves and marshes, and in groundwater aquifers.

As a result, the powder was named “Petroleum Remediation Product.” At the time PRP was the only biological product approved for use in the Chesapeake bay.