GREENPEACE CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL BAN ON TOXIC SHIP PAINT

8 March 2000

ROTTERDAM -- As Greenpeace activists today took action on a newly built, Greek owned passenger ferry in The Netherlands, the environmental organisation called on the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to implement a wordwide ban on the use of toxic tributyltin (TBT) in ship paint by 2003 at its meeting in London this week.

"While the IMO continues to debate a ban on the use of this poisonous paint, ship owners continue to use it and pollute our seas. If the commitment to a global ban does not move forward this week, the IMO will not only have failed to protect public health but it will have fallen short of its own remit: to protect the marine environment," said Greenpeace toxic campaigner, Martyn Beekman from the meeting in London.

Greenpeace has had no reaction to calls on Strintzis, the owner of the 172 metre ship, the Blue Star 2, to use alternatives to toxic TBT paint. This morning, eight Greenpeace activists locked the toxic ship inside a wharehouse near Rotterdam, urging both the owner of the wharf and Strintzis, to reconsider the type of ship paint they use.

TBT is a biocide that has been used in ship paints since the 1970s to prevent marine organisms, such as algae, attaching themselves to ships. The toxic TBT leaks from the paint and is released into the marine environment. Research shows that TBT is responsible for the disruption of the endocrine system of marine shellfish leading to the development of male sex characteristics in female marine snails. TBT also impairs the immune system of organisms and shellfish develop shell malformations after exposure to even extremely low levels of TBT in seawater. Fish and other sea food, such as mussels and herring, are also known to be polluted with TBT.

"TBT is a known poison that must be phased out. Alternatives to TBT paint exist. The shipping industry should start using them now," added Beekman.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

- Melanie Hill + 44 171 865 8285
- Matilda Bradshaw on + 31 20 524 9545
- Martyn Beekman + 31 6 534 78 693
- Marcelo Furtedo + 44 794 005 8886

Research papers include:

F. Ariese e.a. Organotin pollution in sediments from the Dutch Wadden Sea, IVM-VU, 1998

A.C Belfroid e.a. Organotin levels in Seafood, IVM-VU, 1999.

J,. Oehlmann, Toxikologische Bewertung der Organozinnbelastung von Flundern aus der Nordsee, Internatinales Hochsch ulinstitut Zittau, 1999

Tested alternatives to TBT paint include anti-fouling paint containing copper or non-stick paint.

For more information please visit the Greenpeace Toxics campaign website: www.greenpeace.org/~toxics/