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Foiling the Use of Harmful Chemicals in Anti-Fouling
Ship Paints
New Global Environment Facility-funded project aims to tackle the problem in
China’s high seas and waterways
Washington, DC, 27 September 2006
- Worldwide, barnacles and seaweeds have long been the bane of fisher folk,
fouling hulls and the bottoms of fishing boats, increasing friction while
decreasing navigation efficiency and ultimately profits. To thwart these sea
organisms, fishing boat owners use antifouling paints laced with toxic
chemicals. Such practices also have the unintended effect of threatening human
health, harming aquatic wildlife, and polluting marine environments.
In response, the Global Environment Facility is developing a new
multi-million dollar project to eliminate the mixing of DDT (dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane)
in antifouling paint used in China.
“Curbing the use of DDT and other toxic chemicals in antifouling paint
benefits people and the environment,” said Monique Barbut, CEO of the
Washington-based Global Environment Facility (GEF) that funds environmental
projects all over the developing world. “This project will help China eliminate
the use of poisonous chemicals in its thriving fishing industry.”
China, one of the world’s oldest maritime nations has one of the world’s
longest coastlines. China uses about 65,000 metric tonnes of antifouling paint
annually (1 tonne = 1.10 ton). It is the only nation still using the harmful
chemical DDT in antifouling paints.
“Merchant ships and fishing vessels serve as the economic and social lifeline
of many countries,” said Efthimios Mitropoulos, Secretary-General of the
International Maritime Organization (IMO), the London-based United Nations
specialized agency responsible for regulating the maritime sector. “We are
committed to promoting safe, secure and efficient shipping on clean oceans and
are pleased that the GEF is helping one of our largest Member States to achieve
one of the Organization’s goals, which is the prevention of harm to the marine
environment from ships’ anti-fouling systems.”
Project estimates show that of the 65,000 metric tonnes of antifouling paint
used in China, about 5,000 metric tonnes contain DDT. This persistent organic
pollutant ends up residing in fatty tissue of humans and marine wildlife,
retaining its toxicity for long periods of time, and playing havoc on coastal
and marine environments.
The project, to be implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
was reviewed by the GEF Council at a special meeting in Cape Town in late August
2006. The GEF serves as a financing mechanism for the Stockholm Convention on
Persistent Organic Pollutants. China became a signatory to the Convention in May
2001.
The IMO supports the implementation of the project which will assist China to
put in place the necessary measures for acceptance and effective implementation
of the International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems
on Ships, adopted by IMO in 2001, thereby also promoting the treaty’s entry into
force globally.
China's burgeoning coastal cities are the engines of economic growth in the
country, and contribute significantly to the spectacular double-digit growth
rates of the economy. Coastal fishing is an important source of livelihoods,
involving nearly 300,000 fishing ships widely distributed along the coastline.
The residual DDT in antifouling paint production is one of the main sources of
DDT-pollution in China.
Additional benefits from the project include development of a management
information system to share information and best practices in a timely manner,
promoting alternatives to DDT-derived antifouling paints, and supporting
environmental education about alternatives to DDT-based antifouling paints.
September 28, 2006 is World Maritime Day.
Source: Global Environmental Facility
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