Impact assessment of ship scrubber effluents reveals adverse effects at realistic environmental concentrations—combining a systematic review of whole effluent ecotoxicological studies with dilution modeling
Journal article, 2025
Concerns regarding the potential adverse effects of ship-generated scrubber effluent discharged to the marine environment and the growing number of ecotoxicological experiments have motivated a systematic review of available whole effluent toxicity studies where marine organisms have been exposed to scrubber effluent. All available whole effluent toxicity studies on scrubber effluent exposure were assessed with respect to reliability and relevance, and toxicity metrics including effect concentration and no/lowest observed effect concentration were compiled to determine hazardous concentrations by applying a probabilistic approach. The ecotoxicological impact was assessed by relating the subsequent hazard concentrations, as derived from species sensitivity distribution curves as the potentially affected fraction of species, to estimated environmental concentrations. Environmental concentrations were estimated from previous studies that modeled scrubber effluent dilution or conducted in situ measurement of the dilution of ship-generated waste. The hazardous concentration for 5% of the species was determined at 0.0003%, corresponding to environmentally realistic concentrations. Despite the wide range of confidence limits, the results indicate that the discharge of scrubber effluents, particularly from open loop systems, poses a significant environmental hazard. These findings provide a scientific basis for future risk and impact assessments of scrubber effluents, contributing to the ongoing policy discussion regarding the need to restrict scrubber water discharges.
environmental impact
potentially affected fraction
species sensitivity distribution
chemical footprint
whole effluent toxicity
Author
Anna Lunde Hermansson
Chalmers, Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2), Transport, Energy and Environment
RWTH Aachen University
Amanda Nylund
SMHI
Chalmers, Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2), Maritime Studies
Ida-Maja Hassellöv
Chalmers, Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2), Transport, Energy and Environment
Nelson Abrantes
University of Aveiro
Ana Ré
University of Aveiro
Chiau Yu Chen
IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute
Maria Granberg
IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute
Kerstin Magnusson
IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute
Marco Picone
Universita Ca' Foscari Venezia
Elisa Giubilato
Universita Ca' Foscari Venezia
Ian D. Williams
University of Southampton
Lina M. Zapata-Restrepo
Universidad de Antioquia
Erik Ytreberg
Chalmers, Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2), Transport, Energy and Environment
IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute
Integrated environmental assessment and management
15513777 (ISSN) 15513793 (eISSN)
Vol. In PressEvaluation, control and Mitigation of the EnviRonmental impacts of shippinG Emissions (EMERGE)
European Commission (EC) (EC/H2020/874990), 2020-02-01 -- 2024-01-31.
Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Environmental Sciences
Oceanography, Hydrology and Water Resources
Water Engineering
DOI
10.1093/inteam/vjaf192
PubMed
41392326