Abandonment of fibreglass reinforced plastic fishing boats in Kerala, India, and chemical emissions arising from their burning.
Environ Monit Assess
; 195(12): 1413, 2023 Nov 04.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37924359
ABSTRACT
Little information exists on the fate and impacts of boats constructed of fibreglass reinforced plastic (FRP) once they reach their end-of-life. In this study, the number of abandoned fishing boats constructed of FRP or constructed of plywood-wood and sheathed by FRP has been determined along the coast of Kerala, India, and chemical emissions have been estimated when boats are burned as a means of disposal. A total of 292 abandoned boats were observed across eight coastal transects constructed around selected landing centres, with abandonment ranging from 13 to 48 per km (average = 29 km-1). This results in the generation of 1420 kg of FRP debris (glass mat and epoxy resin) per km of coastline. A controlled combustion experiment, simulating open burning, revealed that 63% of original boat mass is emitted to the atmosphere, with the remainder forming a burnt residue. Total concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans emitted and remaining were found to be 2.6 ng Nm-3 and 249.6 µg kg-1, respectively, with respective calculated toxicity equivalence (TEQ) levels of 437.6 pg TEQ Nm-3 in air emissions and 26.6 µg TEQ kg-1 in the residue. These figures are equivalent to the total emission from FRP boat burning of about 17,000 µg TEQ t-1. Burning also generates significant quantities of potentially toxic metals, with resulting concentrations of Co, Cr and Cu close to or exceeding soil guideline values. The study calls for a greater awareness of the impacts arising from boat abandonment and burning amongst fishermen, and guidelines or regulatory protocols regarding safe and sustainable boat disposal or recycling.
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MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Poluentes Atmosféricos
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article