dioxins from ships diesel motors

[Ferdinand.Engelbeen@ping.be (Ferdinand Engelbeen)]

TNO, the renomated scientific institute in The Netherlands, has done
measurements of dioxins and other microcontaminants at three cruising
ships. Because these figures are valid for any ships on the world in
similar circumstances, they can be of interest for all dioxin-l readers.

type of      capacity  type of  chlorine
  ship          kW      fuel    in fuel
                                 mg/kg

ferry         4,895     heavy     11.0

Rhine barge     772     light     n.d.

container    19,750     heavy      1.2

n.d. = not detectable

per ton of fuel the ships emitted:

type of      HCB+PCB's  dioxins   PAH's   mono-nitro-PAH's
  ship          mg        mcg      g             mg

ferry           1.6       5.8     3.12          236

Rhine barge     6.6       1.0     1.64           11.2

container       2.4       4.0     0.84           86.8

where:
HCB = hexachlorobenzene
PCB's = polychlorinated biphenyls
PAH's = polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
mcg = microgram I-TEQ international toxicity equivalents.

If we assume a fuel use of a commercial vessel to be appr. 1 ton/kW/year
then we can calculate the microcontaminant emissions per ship per year:

type of      HCB+PCB's  dioxins   PAH's   mono-nitro-PAH's
  ship           g         mg      kg            kg

ferry           7.8       28      15.3          1.16

Rhine barge     5.1        1       1.3          0.01

container      47.4       79      16.6          1.71

Source: 'Emissions of microcontaminants from ship's engines'
TNO-report 51115, December 1992.

Question A:
If PVC pipes are good for 100 years of useful life, how much km or miles of
waste water pipe (4 kg/m or 7 pounds/yard) can we make to reach the same
amount of dioxins, emitted by ONE seaship in the same hundred years,
including production and incineration of the PVC pipe?

- with European data (0.6 - 3.5 mcg/ton from wich is 0.1 to 3 mcg/ton by
  production, 0.5 mcg/ton by incineration)
- with US/Canadian data (according to the USEPA: 10-130 mcg/ton from wich is
  0.1 to less than 1 mcg/ton by production, the remainder from incineration)

Question B:
After asking Greenpeace about the fuel use of their seaships, how many km
or miles of PVC waste water pipe can we make for the same dioxin-emission
as of their fuel use in the same hundred years?

Any answer may be send to:

Ferdinand.Engelbeen
Chairman Chlorophiles

Ferdinand.Engelbeen@ping.be

with a copy to Greenpeace...