Hans Buitelaar
Buying antifouling for your yacht online is easy. The most used online shops in western Europe ship a can of biocide containing paint to your front door. In a quick test, we placed orders at two online chandler’s shops that operate in a multitude of west-European nations. Buying and delivery of the biocide antifouling showed no restrictions. The test was performed from The Netherlands. In Germany, straight delivery would have been marked illegal.
The Chemicals Prohibition Ordinance (ChemBiozidDV) came into force from the start of 2025 in Germany. This regulation prescribes that anyone buying bottom paint for a boat that contains poisonous chemicals, would have to prove boat ownership or show a sailing permit and have an instructional conversation with a yacht coating professional.
This professional is instructed to provide information about biocide-free alternatives for the antifouling paint the yacht skipper is planning to acquire. While the European Union has been working on rules for anti fouling paints that apply in all of the member countries for more than fifteen years, every country still has their own committee of approval as of today. Whereas The Netherlands do not have the consultancy demands with selling biocide containing paints, the rules in this country about permitted substances are stricter then any other country in the EU.
Dutch racing sailors buy teflon containing antifoulings in Belgium or Germany and apply them under their boats illegally. These paints are said to cause less friction. Ordering anti fouling paint from the Netherlands at a webshop, where no questions are asked, may be in violation of Dutch national regulations as well. The quick online ordering test reveals how regulations differ over various European countries, let alone internationally.
Also in the United States, laws that define which types of anti fouling coating may be used, are different from state to state. In the state of California, the state Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) aimed to restrict the cleaning of boat underwater hulls so no particles of the biocide containing antifouling coatings would come loose and spread in the water. A study that revealed an alarming level of copper ions in the waters of Californian marinas urged the DPR to do so.
Copper contamination in marinas was found to be much higher than Federal standards for water quality would allow. Paint manufacturers however, argued that the DPR’s purpose is regulating pesticides for crop growing and fouling release, not restricting divers to swipe boat bottoms.
The state of Washington was aiming to prohibit the use of copper-based antifouling paints by the start of 2026. Copper ions in the water are harmful for Salmon and other marine life, the state argues. The history of the efforts to ban biocide antifoulings is long. In 2011, Washington enacted legislation to ban the use of copper-based antifouling paint from 2018. Two follow-up investigations by The Washington Department of Ecology in 2017 and 2019 showed that some non-copper alternatives might be more harmful to the environment than copper-based paints.
In 2020, the ban was delayed. Again, a study was performed to establish if safer and effective alternatives for copper would be available. The 2025 report did not provide that information. A follow-up report will re-evaluate the biocide free alternatives by 2029. The ban on copper-based antifoulings is postponed once more. Yet, other legislation has successfully been put into force. The maximum ‘leach rate’ – meaning how much copper oxide will wash into the water per square inch – is determined. Antifoulings allowed in Washington State need to prove that their leech rate is below maximum. The component ‘Irgarol’ that had been used in anti fouling paints over decades was banned. The efforts of the Environmental Protection Agencies in both states, show how hard it is to enforce legislation that stops the use of poisonous coatings.
In Europe, we have to ensure our paints and coatings comply with REACH — Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals — the EU regulation governing the registration and approval of chemical substances,” a Senior Product Manager at a large coating manufacturer company explains. “Companies must provide detailed data on hazards, exposure and safe use, and certain substances can be restricted or even banned. We also have to register our antifouling products under the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR). Every country has its own authority that evaluates and approves products through national approval boards.”
In the Netherlands, biocidal antfoulings need to be registered at the College van Toelating Gewasbeschermingsmiddelen en Biociden (CTGB). Regulations here are in most aspects the most stringent in Europe. Often, paint manufacturers choose to register their biocidal anti fouling paints for the European market in the Netherlands for that reason. They argue: if a type of antifouling paint is allowed in The Netherlands, it will be allowed in all the other countries as well. In the United States, antifouling paints need to be registered at the EPA (Environment Protection Agency). The United States has a slightly different view on biocides than the EU and is also dealing with state rules, which can be challenging, for instance regarding solvents in the paints.
Anti fouling manufacturers are working to reduce environmental impact while still delivering reliable hull protection. That means improving existing antifoulings and, at the same time, developing new technologies. Research is ongoing towards creating coatings without biocides or harmful solvents that still prevent marine growth effectively. But different boats and waters require different solutions, so well-regulated biocide antifoulings remain an important part of the portfolio with the major international antifoulling paint manufacturers.
In commercial shipping, the United Nations shipping authority International Maritime Organisation (IMO), has succeeded in restricting the use of anti-fouling coatings that contain biocides. In the EU, the use of hull paint containing the specific biocide cybutryne was banned beginning 2023. This includes 27 countries which represent a large market in leisure boating. Still, no worldwide regulations exist. There is no international authority for leisure boating.
Uniform international rules would provide clarity for boaters and paint manufacturers about what is permitted and what not. Despite the lack of harmonisation, the overall trend is that regulations on the use of fouling preventing coatings are getting stricter. In order to stay ahead of restrictions or even prohibitions, paint manufacturers and yacht skippers need products that will be approved everywhere and for years to come. The best way to do it: include no harmful components at all.
Biocide-free fouling release coatings are ready available. A variety of solutions is available to prevent the growth of algae, pocks and other marine flora and fauna to hulls. Noise, electrolysis, extremely hard surfaces or flexible but slippery surfaces and even hairy wrappings can be used. Effectiveness of the different solutions depends mostly on the use of the boat and the environment in which it operates: sailing every day or a couple of days every year, going at high speed or slow, being kept on salt or sweet water – these are some of the key variables that determine the success of one solution or another.
Most paint and coating manufacturers have added biocide free fouling release coatings to their product range. Here is an overview of the (most used) alternatives offered use different solutions to prevent fouling.
Copper powder.
Copper powder in an epoxy coating. Copper grain is mixed in clear epoxy and rolled or sprayed onto the hull under water sections Underwater plants and animals do not like to attach to copper. This alternative is banned in The Netherlands however (as the only country banning this type of anti fouling) because of the release of copper ions in the water, which is said to be harmful.
In order to present the view on regulations around antifouling from a coatings manufacturer, we asked AkzoNobel.
While experts in the company could provide helpful information, the marketing department blocked their comments but was unable to provide any officially approved information
