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Boat maintenance facilities in coastal areas contribute a significant amount of antifouling paint particles (APP) to coastal environments. Very few studies have concentrated on the leaching of booster biocides embedded in old paint particles. Therefore, this study attempted to assess the leaching of Dichlofluanid and Irgarol 1051 from APP collected from Mayflower Marina in southwest England. They were analyzed by GC-MS. A leaching experiment revealed that a considerable amount of Dichlofluanid (ca. 24 μg/L) leached from 0.4 g/L of APP after the first hour, followed by a marked decline in the amount measured in the water over time, almost degrading after 24 h in seawater, affording less of an environmental threat to non-target organisms. Conversely, Irgarol 1051 appeared to be persistent and continuously leached from the 0.4 g/L of APP even after 10 days, yielding a concentration of 0.61 μg/L in seawater, potentially posing a significant threat to the aquatic environment through leaching from APP.

Background: The relationship between the use of biocides and insect repellents and the risk of hypospadias was examined in a large case-control study in the South East of England., Methods: A case-control study was carried out among 471 cases of hypospadias referred to surgeons, and 490 randomly selected population-based controls, born between 1 January 1997 and 30 September 1998. Telephone interviews were conducted between September 2000 and March 2003. The questionnaire included information on demographic, lifestyle and environmental factors, including the use of biocides and insect repellents, during pregnancy. A total biocide score was created from summing positive responses to an eight-item biocide exposure questionnaire., Results: The use of insect repellent (adjusted OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.06 to 3.11) during the first trimester of pregnancy was associated with risk of hypospadias, but none of the biocides, or indicators for them, except for the total biocide score for the highest two exposure categories (score 3: adjusted OR 1.73, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.94; and scores 4 and 5 combined: adjusted OR 2.98, 95% CI 1.01 to 8.78) showed statistically significant associations., Conclusion: The authors found an association between the use of insect repellent and total biocide score and risk of hypospadias. In particular, the use of insect repellent warrants further investigation, specifically in relation to type, content and frequency of use since this information was missing in the current study.

Aims: To obtain further information about the risks of cancer associated with occupational exposure to ethylene oxide, Methods: Follow up was extended by 13 years for a cohort of 2876 men and women with definite or potential exposure to ethylene oxide in the chemical industry or in hospital sterilising units. Subjects were traced through National Health Service and social security records, and their mortality was compared with that expected from rates in the national population by the person-years method., Results: Analysis was based on 565 deaths, of which 339 had occurred during the additional period of follow up. Mortality was close to or below expectation for all causes (565 deaths v 607.6 expected), all cancers (188 v 184.2), and for all specific categories of malignancy including stomach cancer (10 v 11.6), breast cancer (11 v 13.2), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (7 v 4.8), and leukaemia (5 v 4.6). All five deaths from leukaemia occurred in the subset of subjects with greatest potential for exposure to ethylene oxide, but even in this group the excess of deaths was small (2.6 expected)., Conclusions: The balance of evidence from this and other epidemiological investigations indicates that any risk of human cancer from ethylene oxide is low, particularly at the levels of occupational exposure that have occurred in Britain over recent decades. This may reflect the capacity of human cells to repair DNA damage caused by the chemical, which is a potent genotoxin and animal carcinogen.