UMR CNRS 5805 EPOC
Environnements et Paléoenvironnements
Océaniques et Continentaux

        

Consignes de Sécurité et Numéros d'Urgence
(à l'usage des personnels du laboratoire)

le 15-06-2009 à 10:45

Lieu Salle Stendhal, DGO, Bâtiment B18 Intervenant(s) Andrew Turner, School of Earth, Ocean and Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth, UK

Fragments of paint particles derived from boat maintenance activities or from the corrosion of applications in situ represent a highly significant yet poorly understood source of metallic and organic contaminants in estuaries. Discarded paint fragments that are visible in boatyards and on slipways are highly enriched in Cu and Zn and many other trace metals. Metals are readily leached into estuarine water at rates dependent on a variety of environmental conditions; some metals are also released in hydrophobic, lipophilic form. Metals are also accessible to invertebrates whose diet is dominated by particulate matter and incubation studies indicate uptake of Cu, but not Zn, from particles administered to filter- and deposit-feeding organisms. Results of semi-quantitative, gravimetric analysis of spent paint particles in estuarine sediment samples reveal that, in many intertidal and benthic environments, antifouling residues may represent the most important contemporary source of metal contamination.