Contamination of a boatyard for maintenance of pleasure boats

Abstract

Purpose The object of this study was to study a boat maintenance facility by investigating the degree of contamination and assessing how leachate water from soil affects organisms from three trophic levels. Materials and methods Surface and subsurface (20-cm depth) soil samples were collected in a typical boatyard (200 boats, 12,000 m 2 ) at a 70-(station A), 90-(station B), 120-(station C) and 160-m (station D) distance from the shoreline. Three replicate samples, ∼10 m apart, were taken at stations A, B and C, respectively, and one replicate was taken at station D (i.e. altogether 20 samples with 10 at surface and subsurface, respectively). The total copper (Cu), lead (Pb), tin (Sn) and zinc (Zn) concentrations were determined for all replicates. Pooled samples from the respective stations were used for analysis of organotin compounds, irgarol and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Leachate waters were produced from the pooled samples and used for toxicity testing with the bacterium Vibrio fischeri, the macroalga Ceramium tenuicorne and the crustacean Nitocra spinipes. Results and discussion Very high concentrations of Cu, Pb, Zn were detected, with maximum values of 16,300, 6,430 and 18,600 mg/kg dw, respectively. Organic hazardous compounds were found in high concentrations with maximum values of 37, 27 and 16 mg/kg dw for tributytin (TBT), dibutyltin (DBT) and triphenyltin (TPhT), respectively. All pollutants exceeded existing guidance values for both sensitive land use and less sensitive land use by several factors, in both surface and subsurface soil. The least and worst cases of total amount of TBT (12 000 m 2 and 0.2 m depth) were estimated to be 10 and 122 kg of TBT. Leachates were shown to be toxic in all three test organisms. Conclusions Several known hazardous pollutants were found in boatyard maintenance areas and they exceeded recommended guidance values by several factors. Leachates were shown to be toxic to test organisms of several trophic orders. This underlines that boat maintenance facilities in general should be better regulated to minimize further exposure to humans and spread of contaminants in the environment. The amounts of contaminants accumulated in these areas call for investigations of how remediation should be performed.

Biofouling of leisure boats as a source of metal pollution

“…This contamination is due mainly to hull cleaning operations such as scraping and sandpapering as well as to the storage of boats on land during winter (Turner 2010; Turner 2013; Eklund et al 2014; Eklund and Eklund 2014). Very high concentrations of metals (Pb, Cd, Hg, Cu, Zn), as well as organic contaminants (TBT, PAHs and PCBs), accumulate on the top layer of soil in boatyards as a result of boat maintenance activities (Eklund and Eklund 2014).…”

Metal contamination at recreational boatyards linked to the use of antifouling paints—investigation of soil and sediment with a field portable XRF

“…In harbors and marinas, the leaching of metals from the paints leads to elevated concentrations in the water and accumulation of metals in the sediments (An and Kampbell 2003 ; Warnken et al 2004 ; Schiff et al 2007 ; Eklund et al 2009 ; Turner 2010 ; Kylin and Haglund 2010 ). Recent studies also show that the use of metal-containing antifouling paints contaminates the soil at boatyards (Turner et al 2009 ; Eklund et al 2014 ). Antifouling paint particles are shed during hull maintenance activities such as water blasting, scraping, and sanding, prior to repainting.…”

Toxic metal enrichment and boating intensity: sediment records of antifoulant copper in shallow lakes of eastern England

“…The toxic agents contained in these paints were first observed in nature during the 1970s, and since then numerous studies have been undertaken in coastal marine environments (Dahl and Blanck 1996;Voulvoulis et al 2000;Callow and Callow 2002;Thomas and Brooks 2010;Eklund et al 2010Eklund et al , 2014Marcheselli et al 2010;Parks et al 2010;Ytreberg et al 2010;Tsunemasa and Yamazaki 2014), documenting the extent and impact of the contamination. The same agents have also been found in freshwater systems.…”