Abstract
As the result of the ecological impacts from the use of tributyltins (TBT) in shipping, environmental legislation for the registration of chemicals for use in the environment has grown to a monumental challenge requiring product dossiers to include information on the environmental fate and behavior of any chemicals. Specifically, persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity, collectively known as PBT, are properties of concern in the assessment of chemicals. However, existing measurements of PBT properties are a cumbersome and expensive process, and thus not applied in the early stages of the product discovery and development. Inexpensive methods for preliminary PBT screening would minimize risks arising with the subsequent registration of products. In this article, we evaluated the PBT properties of compounds reported to possess anti-fouling properties using QSAR (quantitative structure-activity relationship) prediction programs such as BIOWIN™ (a biodegradation probability program), KOWWIN™ (log octanol-water partition coefficient calculation program) and ECOSAR™ (Ecological Structure Activity Relationship Programme). The analyses identified some small (Mr < 400) synthetic and natural products as potential candidates for environmentally benign biocides. We aim to demonstrate that while these methods of estimation have limitations, when applied with discretion, they are powerful tools useful in the early stages of research for compound selection for further development as anti-foulants.
Highlights
Biofouling is a major problem for the shipping industry
Due to severe toxicity and ecological problems associated with organotins, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has banned the application of TBT on all vessels since
We considered a suite of organic compounds that have been used commercially as anti-fouling agents as well as compounds reported to show anti-settlement activities against fouling organisms
Summary
Biofouling is a major problem for the shipping industry. The majority of existing anti-fouling management relies on toxic coatings on vessel hulls to prevent settlement of marine organisms.The toxicants are incorporated into marine paints and leach from the surface layers of the coatings through a variety of mechanisms depending on the type of paint matrix used. The majority of existing anti-fouling management relies on toxic coatings on vessel hulls to prevent settlement of marine organisms. Organotins were the most effective of these compounds for anti-fouling management. The phenomenon of imposex was among the first indications of the non-target effects of TBTs which was only observed when the TBTs in antifouling coatings gained market share. It is well-known that TBTs are highly toxic, the assumption based on laboratory studies suggests that TBTs degrade reasonably rapidly to non-toxic compounds in the presence of sunlight [2]. In fish the bioconcentration factors occur between 100–1000 [3]
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