Abandoned fibreglass boats are releasing


toxins and microplastics across the world


By Corina Ciocan, Senior Lecturer in Marine Biology, University of Brighton


Corina has spent more than 15 years working as a researcher in various Aquatic Ecotoxicology


groups around the world and then accepted a Lecturer position at the University of Brighton. Her research interests focus on the biological effects of various classes of aquatic environmental stressors, contaminants in particular, at cellular and molecular level - functional ecotoxicology. The


key challenge is to understand and define the mechanisms of action of newly emerged contaminants that can negatively impact the health and physiology of marine organisms.


This is not the first time that IIMS has looked at this vexing subject in The Report Magazine and it is clearly a mounting issue for the worldwide marine industry to get its collective mind around and an acceptable solution needs to be found, or the consequences appear grim and of concern to us all.


Where do old boats go to die? The cynical answer is they are put on eBay for a few pennies in the hope they become some other ignorant dreamer’s problem.


As a marine biologist, I am increasingly aware that the casual disposal of boats made out of


fibreglass is harming our coastal marine life. The problem of end-of- life boat management and disposal has gone global, and some island nations are even worried about their already overstretched landfill.


The strength and durability of fibreglass transformed the boating


54 | The Report • December 2020 • Issue 94


industry and made it possible to mass produce small leisure craft (larger vessels like cruise ships or fishing trawlers need a more solid material like aluminium or steel). However, boats that were built in the fibreglass boom of the 1960s and 1970s are now dying and have reached the end of their lives.


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