anti fouling hazard

[Lawski]

Today at our clubs lift out the yacht owners were pressure hosing their boats hulls. Under one particular yacht pools of blue water were forming due to the anti fouling coming off with the water. People who were subject to the spray commented on a funny taste in their mouths. Apparently it was one of the Blakes paints that had been used. This seems a health hazard to me, anyone have any information about this?

 

[sarabande]

that run-off should be treated as special waste, and not allowed to disappear into the environment.


Was it ? Did the worms and beetles and fish and birds complain of a funny taste in their mouths as well ?

 

[kyleview]

Just a bit of common sense needed - make sure to spit it out if any comes your way. Not too good if you digest it, but expect if you are not a H&S jobsworth you would know that. What has our life become with all these jobsworths - NO common sense allowed any longer!!

 

[VicS]

This seems a health hazard to me, anyone have any information about this?

Absolutely

Club's responsibility to make sure such operations are carried out safely, even if environmental considerations allow it.

For similar reasons antifouling should never be dry sanded.

there is also some degree of a bio-hazard from the spray when pressure washing if the boat has been moored in water not of the highest health standards.

 

[rwoofer]

Forget the funny taste in your mouth, you should try getting it in your eyes....

 

[single]

Aside from the effect on humans why is self eroding a/f a hazard if it naturally erodes during use.

 

[[70521]]

Aside from the effect on humans why is self eroding a/f a hazard if it naturally erodes during use.

It's a question of concentration, e.g. a mild beach is good at cleaning things a strong bleach dissolves things.

 

[Sandyman]

Aside from the effect on humans why is self eroding a/f a hazard if it naturally erodes during use.

Because according to the know all's it is more environmentally friendly to use self eroding and annual anti-fouling to millions of yachts than it is to use something like TBT which lasts donkeys years. Power of the paint manufacturers ???

 

[snowleopard]

The stuff is certainly toxic. I scraped off a boat on the lawn once and had to re-turf the area underneath as nothing would grow there.

 

[Sandyman]

The stuff is certainly toxic. I scraped off a boat on the lawn once and had to re-turf the area underneath as nothing would grow there.

Of course not. The fact that millions & millions of pleasure craft have to use this form of anti-fouling on an annual basis must cause more environmental damage than replacing TBT once every 10 years or so.

 

[Robert Wilson]

Aside from the effect on humans why is self eroding a/f a hazard if it naturally erodes during use.

I did wonder that myself ! Not being clever, or whatever.
I hope that if it is self-eroding then it's ok for the environment, and us.

 

[KevO]

I think some are misunderstanding the word 'eroding'... the surface of eroding a/f gradually wears away thus constantlly exposing a fresh toxic surface to the water. It does not mean that the toxicity of the paint itself degrades or decreases (like the half-life of a radioactive element/isotope). When you sand or blast off the remaining a/f paint the waste is probably just as toxic as when it was first painted on!

 

[Tomahawk]

Always makes me laugh at the warning, "this product is harmful to the environment"..

I want AF to kill anything that tries to stick itself to my boat.. The cleaner she is the less fuel is needed to push her through the water., Burning fuel is verey bad for the environment!

But then the environment is seiously dangerous and harmful to people

 

[John.edwards]

as a toxicologist i view this from a risk assessment point of view. if hauled out boats ALL remove antifoul in the same location, then its accumulation at that point is a significant issue, mainly environmental dry, and wet blasting can result in significant exposures that can pose a risk to operator health. that said, we have a problem in australia analogous to the repeat application of antifoul. we have problems with termites eating timber frames/floors of houses. the chemicals used to deter them upto the mid 90s were fantastic. apply once and your house is safe for 30+ years. banned because of ... environmental persistence... go figure. now we use more toxic chemicals more frequently ... somtimes politics gets in the way of good decisions

 

[lw395]

I think some people need to take more care when pressure washing boats, particularly when other people are around.
Breathing the spray is a very bad idea, even if it's only dirty water, let alone active biocides.