First evidence of GRP boats' impact on aquatic organisms

Microscopic analysis of oysters, mussels and sediment from Chichester Harbour has uncovered a dizzying number of glass fibres linked back to boatyards and derelict vessels.

The 'really worrying' findings by University of Brighton researchers who undertook studies off the coast of Hampshire and West Sussex have worldwide implications, yet there is no practical solution for recycling fibreglass boats in sight, with a boom in boating, plus increasing numbers of early glass reinforced plastic (GRP) vessels reaching end of life. Mystery shards Dr Corina Ciocan, Principal Lecturer in Marine Biology, at the School of Applied Sciences at the University of Brighton told PBO it took a lot of detective work to discover what the shards 10 times thinner than human hair - embedded in oysters and other aquatic life were, as the initial study was focused on microplastics.

Mystery shards

Dr Corina Ciocan, Principal Lecturer in Marine Biology, at the School of Applied Sciences at the University of Brighton told PBO it took a lot of detective work to discover what the shards 10 times thinner than human hair - embedded in oysters and other aquatic life were, as the initial study was focused on microplastics.

She said: "We were looking at contamination of plastic in the water, in the sediment and in the oysters. In the oysters we found many, many strands we couldn't explain, no one had reported it before.

"The oysters had been collected from in front of a boatyard, and we found 'e-type glass' which is mostly used in composite materials, the dimension of the strands corresponded to tiny fragments that usually relate to cutting reinforced glass plastic material in boatyards.

"It was like uncovering the tip of the iceberg because nobody had published anything like this before, we were opening Pandora's Box."

It is believed that the fibreglass is causing 'asbestos-like' damage to organisms such as oysters and mussels. Dr Ciocan said,

£1.9m follow-up study to look at human health impact