Legislation
Registration of antifouling products (defined as non-agricultural pesticides) is undertaken by the Biocides and Pesticides Unit within the Health and Safety Executive.
Information about registration procedures is available free from the BPU in the form of 'The Registration Handbook', a printed guide. This guide can be ordered from the HSE website (www.hse.gov.uk).
Registration of Diuron in antifouling products was revoked in the UK in 2000, in view of its low degradability in seawater and low safety margin for adverse human haematological effects.
ZPT (zinc pyrithione) is approved in a number of products for amateur and professional use.
Although RH 287 (4,5-Dichloro-2-n-octyl-4-isothiazolin-3-on active portion of Sea-Nine 211) is currently approved in the UK as a booster biocide in a number of antifouling products, it is a skin sensitising compound and is predicted to be a skin and eye irritant, therefore causing amateur use of products containing RH-287 to be revoked in the UK in 1999. In 2000, the Advisory Committee on Pesticides recommended that although professional use of RH-287 should be permitted to continue, additional personal protective equipment and further data have been required. Actually, professional products based upon RH-287 can be marketed/used in the UK as antifouling products but may only be applied to vessels over 25 metres in length.
Zineb is the only Dithiocarbamate still used as a co-biocide, being strongly synergistic with copper. After a review of booster biocides in 2000, the UK Advisory Committee on Pesticides recommended that the approval of Zineb in professional and amateur use should continue.
It was also recommended that all amateur uses of antifouling products containing Chlorothalonil should be revoked after studies on human toxicology indicated that the risk of skin sensitisation was unacceptably high. Amateur and professional use of TCMTB (Thiocyanomethylthiobenzothiazole) was revoked due to failure to supply outstanding data requirements.
The amateur use of Irgarol 1051 was revoked due to environmental concerns and professional use was revoked due to failure to supply data requirements.
General information relating to the Control of Pesticides Regulations and the Biocidal Products Directive/Regulations can be found on the HSE website.
The HSE is also responsible for implementing the Biocidal Products Directive within the UK. For an actual list of approved antifouling products see: