Biofouling of leisure boats as a source of metal pollution

The release of harmful metals from antifouling paints to water bodies is a well-known problem. In this study, we measured both the amount of biofouling growth on leisure boats during one season as well as the concentration of metals accumulated by the biofouling matrix. Furthermore, the efficiency of antifouling paints and mechanical boat cleaning as well as the effect of hull colour on biofouling were evaluated. Unlike paint residues, biofouling waste has never been regarded as a source of metal contamination and has previously been neglected in the scientific literature. Our results revealed that the biofouling waste contained very high concentrations of metals, up to 28,000 mg copper/kg dw and 171,000 mg zinc/kg dw, which exceeds the guidance values for least sensitive land use in Sweden by factors of 140 and 340, respectively. This observation is important because the contaminated biofouling waste is commonly disposed of in boatyard soils at the end of each season, thus increasing the levels of metal pollution. Moreover, there was no significant difference in the amount of biofouling if the boats were coated with copper or zinc containing paints or no paint at all, indicating that biocide paints might not be necessary in low-salinity areas such as the Stockholm archipelago. For boats that were not painted at all during the season, those washed on boat washers (mechanically) had on average half of the amount of biofouling compared to boats that were not cleaned mechanically. The results of the study indicate the importance of proper management of biofouling waste as well as the use of more environmentally friendly removal methods for biofouling such as boat washers.