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Antifouling paints containing DDT are mainly used on sea fishing ships. There are 300,000 medium and small size ships widely distributed along the 18,000 km. coastline in China, which consume 10,000 metric tonnes (MT) antifouling paints. Approximately half is DDT based antifouling paint, and the other half is TBT based antifouling paint. Because DDT is a Persistent Organic Pollutant, it can damage sea organisms and sea ecosystems, and be accumulated in the bodies of sea organisms when it is released into sea from the antifouling paints coated on the ships’ surface.Use of DDT in this manner is not considered a permitted use under the Stockholm Convention, and there are no specific exemptions available to continue such production and use. Thus, China is obliged to take action to phase out the use of DDT as additive in the production of antifouling paint.
In cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), a project titled Alternatives to DDT Usage in the Production of Antifouling Paint has been developed and got GEF Council approval in August, 2006, and GEF CEO Endorsement in July, 2007. The key objective of this project is to take measures to eliminate the use of DDT as an additive for antifouling paints, and to establish and promote the use of sustainable alternatives to DDT/TBT-based antifouling paints. The binding objective of the project is to eliminate the use of DDT in production of antifouling paint by conversion to technically feasible, economically viable, and environmentally friendly alternatives. In addition, the prospective objective of the project is to establish a long-term mechanism to protect marine environment and human health from pollution of harmful antifouling systems by supporting China’s signature of the International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems on Ships (the IMO Convention) based on the technologies, experience and instruments obtained from phase out of DDT antifouling paint.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), through its Convention Implementation Office (CIO/MEP), and the UNDP will be respectively the national executing agency and the international implementing agency of this four-year project from November 2007 till December, 2011.
One of the outcomes of the project will be to make the conversion from DDT based antifouling paints to alternatives, adopting multiple means of technological support, policy induction, market regulation, and awareness raising and education to promote the conversion.
The project has collected over 40 alternatives for efficacy tests, risk assessment, and cost evaluation. Those top-ranked alternatives will be further optimized and improved in their formulations before scale production and distribution.
The objective is to draw upon international experiences in developing and optimizing antifouling paint formulations as well as scale production of antifouling paint products.
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