Effect of marine antifouling paint particles waste on survival of natural Bermuda copepod communities

Abstract

Marine antifouling paints (MAPs) are widely used to prevent organisms from fouling vessel hulls. When scraped from vessels as part of regular maintenance, MAP particles discharged into the seawater become a source of toxic substances, like copper (Cu), to the environment, and biocides leaching from them are known to cause toxic effects on non-target organisms. We investigated the toxicity of MAP particles collected from a Bermuda boatyard on local copepod communities using two experiments. Copepod survival, Chlorophyll a and total dissolved Cu concentrations were measured before and after MAP particles addition. In an acute toxicity test, the addition of 0.3 g/L of MAP particles resulted in 0% copepods survival within 88 h and increased dissolved Cu by 1.8 μM. A significant inverse relationship was observed between copepod survival and MAP particles quantity, highlighting the toxic effects of MAP particles from boat maintenance on copepod communities in the surrounding seawater.