| Abstract: | Current and forthcoming UK and European legislation requires environmental risk assessment of antifouling paints. For assessments to be carried out successfully, the leaching rate of biocides from antifouling paints should be determined. Current methods for the measurement of biocide leach rate have been shown to be very susceptible to changes in parameters such as pH, salinity and temperature. Using apparatus designed to simulate environmental conditions the effect of short‐term changes in salinity, pH, temperature, suspended particulate matter and simulated vessel speed on cuprous oxide and tributyltin (TBT) leaching from self‐polishing antifouling paint was investigated. No effect on copper leaching was observed over a wide range of environmentally relevant conditions, whilst vessel speed was the only parameter found to influence TBT release rates significantly. It is suggested that the decrease observed may be due to the formation of a boundary layer which slows down the release of TBT from the paint surface. The environmental authenticity of this observation and its possible implications for the environmental risk assessment of TBT are discussed. Copyright © 1999 Crown Copyright. |
