Development of a Cost-Effective, Environmentally Friendly Ballast Water Treatment
Scientists, resource managers and industry experts have proposed numbers of strategies for minimizing the transfer of non-indigenous species from one aquatic ecosystem to another – each year, an estimated 20 billion gallons are released into U.S. ports alone from ballast water discharges. A recent study of ballast water from 70 vessels in the Chesapeake Bay found that 90 percent carried living organisms, including barnacles, clams, mussels, fish and microscopic plants and animals. Treating ballast water with a biocide before discharge is one option to prevent the release of these organisms, though care must be exercised to ensure that the biocide breaks down and is not harmful to native organisms once the ballast water is discharged. Of the possible chemical treatments, one of them, chlorine, is problematic because it forms carcinogenic and toxic by-products; a second, glutaraldehyde is both toxic and expensive. In this project, David Wright and Neal Belson will conduct studies with juglone, a natural compound derived from the black walnut tree that has been chemically altered to make it more soluble in water. Preliminary studies indicate that it is highly effective at low concentrations and that it degrades into constituent elements quickly; furthermore, the compound is not expensive to produce and can be easily used aboard ocean-going ships. Wright will conduct laboratory studies to determine minimum but effective concentrations against nuisance species and will analyze the processes of its breakdown. Once lab studies are completed, he will undertake dockside and shipboard trials to determine its rate of success.
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David A. Wright and Rodger Dawson
Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Neil A. Belson
Pharmacognetics, Inc.
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