Abandonment of fibreglass reinforced plastic fishing boats in Kerala, India, and chemical emissions arising from their burning

• Published in: Environmental monitoring and assessment Vol. 195; no. 12; p. 1413
• Main Authors: Lekshmi, N. Manju, Kumar, Sreejith S., Ashraf, P. Muhamed, Xavier, K. A. Martin, Prathish, K. P., Ajay, S. V., Edwin, Leela, Turner, Andrew
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.12.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Abandonment; Air Pollutants - analysis; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Boats; Burning; Chlorinated hydrocarbons; Chromium; Combustion; Copper; Dibenzofuran; Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated - analysis; Dioxins; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Ecotoxicology; Emissions; End of life; Environment; Environmental Management; Environmental Monitoring; Epoxy compounds; Epoxy resins; Equivalence; Fiberglass; Fishers; Fishing; Fishing vessels; Glass fiber reinforced plastics; Glass-epoxy composites; Hunting; Incineration; Metal concentrations; Metals; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Open burning; Plywood; Residues; Ships; Toxicity; Kerala India; India; Fibreglass reinforced plastic; Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins; Potentially toxic metals; Microplastics; Toxicity equivalence
• ISSN: 0167-6369; 1573-2959
• DOI: 10.1007/s10661-023-12033-8

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.