Elsevier

Marine Pollution Bulletin

Volume 182, September 2022, 113904
Marine Pollution Bulletin

Metal and PAH loads from ships and boats, relative other sources, in the Baltic Sea

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113904Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Inputs of metals and PAHs to the Baltic Sea from various sources compiled.

  • Shipping and leisure boating responsible for over one third of total copper input

  • 98 % of copper input from ships and leisure boats is from antifouling paints.

  • The share of PAHs from shipping relative other sources were up to 9 %.

  • Direct input of PAHs from shipping primarily (≥98 %) from open loop mode scrubbers

Abstract

The Baltic Sea is a sensitive environment that is affected by chemical pollution derived from multiple natural and anthropogenic sources. The overall aim of this study was to estimate the load of metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from shipping and leisure boating, relative other sources, to the Baltic Sea and to identify possible measures that could lead to major reductions in the loads of hazardous substances from maritime shipping and leisure boating. The use of copper-based antifouling paints, and operation of scrubbers in open loop mode, were the two most dominant identified sources of hazardous substances to the Baltic Sea. Open loop scrubbers accounted for 8.5 % of the total input of anthracene to the sea. More than a third of the total load of copper can be reduced if copper-free antifouling paints or other biocide-free antifouling strategies are used on ships and leisure boats.

Keywords

Shipping
Leisure boats
PAHs
Metals
Baltic Sea
Load compilation

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