The paper presents some results of research on the fluorescence properties of petroleum oil-in-water emulsions. The research addresses the question of measuring and modelling light fields in an oil-polluted marine environment. The fluorescence of the emulsion manifests itself in the spectral range from 260 to over 400 nm and is much less intensive in the visible light region. Fluorescence is always weaker than the radiation scattered in an emulsion. The measurement and modelling of ultraviolet radiation scattering requires fluorescence to be taken into consideration, but in the visible spectral region this phenomenon is negligible.