A green gift for blue waters: Toxic barnacle killer likely to be banned soon

Last update: August 30, 2007 - 7:51 PM

A treaty that forbids the maritime use of what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 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 greenward turn for the U.S. and European chemical, paint and coatings industries, which endorsed the deal, as well as cruise lines, freighter and container fleets, and shipyard and marina operators.

Their commitment will be tested further by other pending maritime environmental concerns, including, in California, growing resistance to copper-based substitutes for TBT. Other challenges include ballast water releases and stack emissions from ships' massive engines.

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