IMO Model Course on the Response

to HNS in the Marine Environment

Level 2: The Manager Level

Lesson 2.9
Impacts of HNS Releases
 Objective
• To recognize potential impacts of HNS
releases.

• To be able to use this information to elaborate

the overall response strategy.
 Impacts of HNS releases
• Releases of HNS can adversely impact:
– Health and safety due to toxicity, corrosivity, etc.
– Social and economic activities
– Marine and coastal environment

• Impacts can be from:

– Toxicity
– Physical hazards such as flammability etc.
– Smothering
– Interference with activities
Understanding impacts - key concepts
• For a release of HNS to cause an impact there
must be a pathway to exposure
• Whether an impact occurs will depend largely on
the sensitivity of the organism in question in
relation to the concentration and duration of
exposure
• When assessing environmental impact, it is
important to differentiate between impacts to
individuals and population level impacts
– A few individuals may suffer severe adverse effects with no
impacts to overall population
 Impacts – Oil V HNS
• Impacts from oil have been studied since the
first major shipping incidents and are
relatively well understood
• However, impacts of HNS in the marine
environment are less certain due to fewer
incidents, and less research
• Actual impacts will depend largely on the
intrinsic properties of the HNS involved
Factors affecting the impact of HNS releases
• HNS involved
– toxicity of substance(s), mixtures or reaction products and
persistence are key
• Concentration and degree of exposure
• Geographic location
• Oceanographic and meteorological conditions
• Biological characteristics of the area
• Season
• Choice of response strategy and effectiveness of response
 What do we mean by ‘toxicity’?
• The degree to which a substance can
harm humans or living resources – a
property of all chemical substances
• Toxicity is dependent on how large a dose
is required to kill and organism
• Acute toxicity means the effects on health appear rapidly
following sudden exposure to relatively high concentrations of a
chemical, whereas chronic effects are delayed and caused by
repeated doses of a chemical at lower concentrations
 Toxicity
• To suffer adverse effects, an individual must:
– be in contact with the substance (exposure) at a
sufficient concentration (dose).
– exposure routes = inhalation, contact, absorption
and ingestion

• For humans, we can prevent exposure by wearing

PPE (personal protective equipment)
• Must know characteristics of substance and exposure
levels in order to select proper personal protection
equipment (PPE) and protect population
 Exposure limits
• Two types of exposure limits
• Those designed to protect
workers/responders (occupational limits),
typically set by the competent national
authority – generally for long term exposure
• Those designed to protect the general
population by anticipating adverse health
effects from chemical releases – generally,
short term acute exposure
 Environmental Effects
• Sensitive resources will be affected according to the
behaviour of the HNS
Floaters Dissolvers Sinkers Evaporators/gases

• Birds • Marine • Benthic • Birds

• Shorelines organisms organisms • Mammals
• Man-made • Mangroves • Sediments
structures • Coral reefs
• Ports/ harbours • Water intakes
• Mangroves

• Some effects will be short term (e.g. toxic fumes from

evaporators), but others may be longer term such as
contamination of sediments by sinkers
• Low doses of HNS can still cause sub-lethal effects
 GESAMP classification
• Joint Group of Experts in the Scientific
Aspects of Marine environmental Pollution,
who advise the UN system on the scientific
aspects of marine environmental protection.
• Works closely with the IMO.
• The primary function of the GESAMP EHS
Working Group is ‘to evaluate the hazards of
bulk liquid substances regulated under
MARPOL Annex II and, based on the data
received, assign an appropriate pollution
category for the substance’.
• GESAMP produces ‘hazard profiles’ for these
substances
 GESAMP classification
7
GESAMP hazard profile for Styrene

3 Readily biodegradable

1 N C
I M
0 FE
A1a A1b A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2 C3 D1 D2 D3 E1 E2 E3

Ranking Maximum

Bio- Aquatic toxicity: Acute Irritation, Interference

accumulation short, medium mammalian corrosion and with other
and and long term toxicity; long-term users of the
biodegradation impact mammalian sea
health effects
Impacts on Social and Economic
Activities
 Social and Economic Activities
• Impacts on tourism:
– Important for many coastal communities
– Contamination of beaches and coastal structures
can lead to closures
– Potentially fewer clients for restaurants, hotels,
water parks, etc.
– Positive financial impacts from response
community
– Although impacts and response may only be short
to medium term, there can be significant image
damage that may persist in the long term
 Social and Economic Activities
• Impacts on water intakes:
– Many industries need water to function properly:
• Power and desalination plants
• Fish plant
• Aquarium, pools, etc.
– HNS in a water intake can lead to contamination
of water supply, malfunctions, etc.
– Can have serious implications, especially for
power and desalination plants
– Important to protect these areas if it is likely to
help avoid contamination
 Social and Economic Activities
• Impacts on ports and marinas:
– Ports are the entrance or exit for many essential goods
and trade
– Ports and marinas can be affected by:
• Navigation channels closed or restricted
• Contamination of structures such as wharf, jetties, etc.
• Contamination of vessels
• Closure or limited access due to response operations (booms)
– Cleaning of vessels may be required for persistent HNS
– Contaminated structures can be difficult to clean
• Impacts on archaeological sites and artefacts
Impacts on Marine Environment
 Impacts on marine environment
• Plankton
– Very sensitive to HNS
– Affected by HNS dissolved in the water column
– Mortality is compensated for by over-production
of young life stage and recruitment from non-
affected area
 Impacts on marine environment
• Fish
– Juveniles susceptible to HNS exposure
– Adults more resilient, free-swimming fish are likely
to avoid HNS
– Mortality associated with localized conditions
• Concentration of dissolved HNS in water column
• Shallow waters, higher concentrations
– Depuration processes
 Impacts on marine environment
• Marine mammals
– Whales, dolphins, seals, otters, manatees, etc.
– Species surfacing to breath can be exposed to floating HNS
– Irritation to airways, eyes is possible
– Species using the shoreline such as seals and otters can
suffer from exposure especially if their haul-out is
contaminated

Source: OSRL
 Impacts on marine environment
• Sea turtles
– All species are endangered
– Adults can suffer irritation and inflammation of
membranes
– They are vulnerable to being contaminated particularly
during nesting season and in shallow waters
– They use sand beaches for nesting and to lay eggs so
clean-up of these areas during nesting season will be
high priority
 Impacts on marine environment
• Seabirds, wildfowl and waders
– Vulnerable to floating and evaporating HNS
– Contamination can disrupt the feathers, affecting
insulation properties which results in hypothermia,
excessive preening of smothered feathers can lead to
exhaustion
– Significant numbers could be affected by contact with
persistent HNS floating at sea or on shorelines - seasonality
– Short and long-term damage is possible for individuals and
populations
– Unlike for oil spills, cleaning procedures for wildlife
contaminated by HNS are not well developed
 Impacts on marine environment
• Corals
– Highly sensitive organisms, but actual impacts depends on
the properties of the HNS involved
– Especially vulnerable to HNS that dissolve in the water
column
– Exposed coral reefs can be affected by floating HNS
– Exposure can cause:
• Disease and mortality • Change feeding behaviour
• Disrupt ecological functions • Affect growth and reproduction

– Potentially a long recovery time if exposed to HNS

Impacts on Coastal Environment
 Environmental Sensitivity Index
ESI Shoreline type Sensitivity
Rank
1 Exposed rocky shore, exposed solid man-made structures, exposed A rank of 1 represents
rocky cliff shorelines with the least
susceptibility to damage
2 Exposed wave cut platforms, exposed scarps
by oiling. Oil cannot
3 Fine to medium grained sand beaches, scarps and steep slopes in penetrate into the rock
sand, tundra cliffs and will be washed off
quickly by the waves
4 Coarse grained sand beaches and tides.
5 Mixed sand and gravel beaches
6 Gravel beaches, rip-rap
7 Exposed tidal flats
8 Sheltered scarps in bedrock, mud or clay, sheltered rocky shores, A rank of 10 represents
sheltered solid man-made structures, sheltered rip rap, peat shorelines most likely to be
shorelines damaged by oiling. Oil will
remain for a long period of
9 Sheltered tidal flats, vegetated low banks time, penetrate deeply into
the substrate, and inflict
10 Salt and brackish water marshes, freshwater marshes, swamps, scrub damage to many kinds of
wetlands, mangroves, inundated low-lying tundra plants and animals.
Source: NOAA
Impacts on Fisheries
 Impacts on fisheries
• Fisheries and mariculture are important
economic and subsistence activities
• Fisheries can be affected by HNS because of:
– Toxicity
– Fin erosion, skeletal deformations, damage to
internal organs
– Tainting (taste in flesh)
– Business interruption
 Impacts on fisheries
• Many concerns when fisheries are affected:
– Public health concerns
• Toxic compounds in flesh
• Many international guidelines
– Market confidence
• Sales might be affected even if fish are not
contaminated by HNS

• Mariculture is particularly vulnerable

 Impacts on fisheries
• Management strategies:
– Temporary suspension of water intakes
– Reduction in feeding
– Organoleptic testing Source: Korea Coast Guard

• Detect taste and odours in flesh

– Sampling and chemical analysis
• Detection of toxic compounds in flesh
• Compare results with public health guidelines
– Fisheries closure
– Marketing campaign to restore confidence
 Impact assessment and monitoring
• In addition to monitoring for response purposes,
various monitoring studies can be undertaken to
evaluate environmental damage
– Chemical analysis of water, biological or sediment
samples, eco-toxicity analysis, use of
bioindicators, population inventories, habitat
assessments, etc.
• Restoration measures can be identified and
implemented in some cases
 Impact assessment and monitoring
• Overall objectives
– To determine the nature and extent of damage
– To assess and monitor the recovery processes
– Objectives must be clear and achievable
• Post-spill monitoring must answer specific
questions such as:
– What are the levels of contaminants left in the
environment by this incident?
– How widely do they spread?
– Are they persisting?
– Is there a change in bird populations?
 Post-spill monitoring
• Collaboration between government and
responsible party is desirable during the
whole process
• It will avoid:
– Duplication of efforts
– Varying results due to differences
in methodology
– “Battle of experts” Source: CEDRE

• Collaboration will ensure quicker implementation of

restoration measures and treatment of claims
 Summary
• HNS incidents can have wide ranging impacts, but
the actual, resultant impact will depend largely on
the properties of the HNS involved

• For a release of HNS to cause an impact there

must be a pathway to exposure

• The degree of impact will depend largely on the

sensitivity of the organism in question in relation
to the concentration and duration of exposure
 Summary
• Impacts can be lethal or sub-lethal

• Managers should identify and prioritize sensitive

resources at the contingency planning stage

• Impact assessments and monitoring studies

need to have clear objectives and be well
planned and executed, ideally on a collaborative
basis
Any questions?