Reductions in TBT concentrations in UK estuaries following legislation in 1986 and 1987

Abstract

In 1986 the Government of the United Kingdom (UK) introduced legislation to control the sale of tribytltin (TBT)-based paints. From 1986 to 1989 monitoring was undertaken, whereby samples of water, sediment, oysters (Crassostrea gigas) and mussels (Mytilus edulis) were collected from six estuaries and water samples from five marinas/harbours, and analysed for TBT. In 1989 the concentrations of TBT in water, oysters and mussels were generally only one-third to one-quarter of those observed in 1986. The most marked decrease in concentrations of TBT in oysters and mussels occurred in 1987–1988, following the 1987 ban on the use of TBT-based paints on small boats and mariculture equipment. As the concentrations of TBT in oyster tissues had decreased there has been improvement in oyster growth in terms of both meat production and growth of thin (i.e. normally shaped) shells. Oysters with a normal shell shape can now be grown in five of the six estuaries which were monitored. In contrast to the reduction in concentrations of TBT noted in water and bivalves, changes in concentrations of TBT in sediments showed no clear trend from 1986 to 1989.