Modest amount of acid is dispersed immediately in seawater and releases as the same kind of gas as you would get by dumping vinegar in a hundred cubic miles of seawater.I researched this when I arranged for a place in the dump to hold batteries until the Mennonites came to pick them up.Some thought it was a trick to get their valuable batteries for free. The people here got the message and now sell almost all of them to the same Mennonites for cash.