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A multi species and multi system evaluation of the ecotoxicological effects of scrubber
water – a synopsis of results from the EMERGE project
M.E. Granberg1, K. Magnusson1, N. Abrantes2, M. Baccichet, L. Calgaro3, C.Y. Chen1, G. G. Distefano3,
S. Dupont4, E Garcia2, S Genitsaris5, A. Volpi Ghirardini5, E. Giubilato3, M. Gros6,7, I.-M. Hassellöv8,
A. Lunde Hermansson8, M.D. Hudson9, D. Marchetto3, A. Marcomini3, A. Monteiro11 M. Moustaka-Gouni5, L.
Ntziachristos5, P. Osborne9, M. Petrovic6,10, M. Picone3, A. Ré11, M. Russo3, K. Salo8, N. Stefanidou5, I.
Williams9, L. M. Zapata-Restrepo9 & E. Ytreberg8
1IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Kristineberg Center, Fiskebäckskil, 45178, Sweden
2Dept. of Biology & CESAM, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, 3810-193, Portugal.
3Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, University Ca’ Foscari Venice, 30172, Italy
4BIOENV, University of Gothenburg, Kristineberg Center, Fiskebäckskil, 45178, Sweden
5Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece
6Catalan Institute for Water Research, Girona, 17003, Spain
7 Universitat de Girona (UdG), Girona, Spain
8Mechanics and Maritime Sciences, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, 412 96, Sweden.
9Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
10Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
11Dept. of Environment and Planning & CESAM, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, 3810-193, Portugal
Keywords: Scrubber water, ecotoxicology, marine, effects
Presenting author email: maria.granberg@ivl.se
Allowing for installation of exhaust gas cleaning
systems (scrubbers) as an alternative to using a
cleaner fuel, to comply with the IMO 2020 Sulphur
cap, has been done without appropriate consideration
of negative impacts on marine life. The toxic and
acidic cocktail of scrubber water may pose a serious
threat to marine organisms and ecosystems, with
consequences for commercial fish socks (Koski et al
2017, Thor et al 2021).
Ecotoxicological experiments were carried out
on endemic species at five European research
laboratories within the research project EMERGE
(EC-Horizon 2020), aiming to investigate effects of
scrubber water on marine life. Different life stages,
species and microbial plankton communities were
investigated. Scrubber water was obtained from open
loop systems onboard operating ships (DANAOS
Shipping co. LTD) and from a pilot system at
Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. A
range of scrubber water concentrations (0.0001 to
40% v/v sea water) were tested. Protocols for
collection, storage and handling of scrubber water
were developed in order not to alter chemical
characteristics. All laboratories used CRED
methodology (Moermond et al, 2016).
Toxic effects were detected at much lower
concentrations (0.0001-0.001%) than previously
reported. Invertebrate fertilization and larval
development were the most sensitive endpoints.
These endpoints were not included in previous
studies on scrubber water toxicity but are vital for
species recruitment and thus for maintaining
sustainable marine food webs. Microalgal growth
rate of and invertebrate mortality are endpoints
commonly used in standardized ecotoxicity tests;
however, these parameters were found to be less
sensitive. Marine microbial communities showed
high resilience with effects detected at 10% scrubber
water. Bacterial community change towards pollution
resistant and PAH degrading strains was observed.
We conclude that there is an apparent risk that
scrubber water may have a serious impact on
populations of key species of marine food webs. This
risk must be considered in the continued debate about
the future use of scrubbers in shipping.
Figure 1. Species, larvae and planktonic communities
investigated. A: Sea urchin (Paracentrotus lividus,
Echinodermata) & pluteus larva (a), B: Copepod
(Calanus sp., Crustacea) & nauplius larva (b), C:
Blue mussel (Mytilus sp., Mollusca) & veliger larva
(c), D: Polychaete (Sabellaria alveolate, Annelida) &
trochophore larva (d), E: Microalgae, Phaeodactylum
tricornutum (E1), Dunaliella tertiolecta (E2) and
Pseudo-nitzschia sp. (E3), F: Phytoplankton
community.
This work was supported by the EC Horizon 2020
EMERGE project (Grant Agreement No. 874990).
Koski, M., C. Stedmon, and S. Trapp (2017) Marine
Environmental Research 129, 374-385.
Moermond, C. T. A., R. Kase, M. Korkaric, and M.
Ågerstrand (2016) Environmental toxicology
and chemistry 35,1297-1309.
Thor, P., M. E. Granberg, H. Winnes, and K.
Magnusson (2021) Environmental Science &
Technology 55, 5826-5835.