Toxic ship-paint additive banned — after 40 years

New barnacle-killing hull coatings like the one on this 38,000 ton cruise ship are replacing a popular one highly toxic to marine life.


Toxic ship-paint additive banned — after 40 years
By Frank Greve | McClatchy Newsapers
Posted on Friday, August 31, 2007


WASHINGTON — A treaty that forbids the maritime use of what the Environmental Protection Agency deems the most toxic chemical ever deliberately released into the world's waters is expected to be ratified within days.

It bans the poison tributyltin, a cheap and effective barnacle and algae killer once used on nearly all of the world's 30,000 commercial ships. The treaty also sets up a system for future testing and curbs on other hull biocides worldwide.

By 1995, more than 500 research papers worldwide had linked tributyltin, known as TBT, to adverse environmental or health effects. The most worrisome were "profound reproductive effects" coupled with diminished marine-species populations, according to Jill Bloom, an EPA chemical-review manager who worked on the treaty.

"It's very, very bad stuff," said Lindy Johnson, a National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration lawyer who worked alongside Bloom.

"It's a tremendous victory for the marine environment," said Simon Walmsley, the head of marine programs at the World Wildlife Fund's London office, "but one that is long overdue."

The ban on tributyltin signals a green-ward turn for the U.S. and European chemical and paint and coatings industries, which endorsed the deal, as well as cruise lines, freighter and container fleets, and shipyard and marina operators.


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