Marine engine emissions account for almost half of hazardous air pollution particles measured in coastal areas around the Baltic Sea, much more than anticipated, and underlying the need for northern Europe’s recent introduction of U.S.-style marine emission standards, according to researchers at Sweden’s Lund University.
The team looked for nanoparticles, the tiniest bits of pollution that can penetrate deepest into people’s lungs. Tracking the particles from likely sources, they concluded that shipping in the Baltic’s busy sea lanes and the straits between Sweden and Denmark put out half the coastal region’s pollution load, with the rest coming from onshore cars and trucks, industrial combustion and power generation, and natural sources.
“This is the first time an attempt has been made to estimate the proportion of nanoparticles stemming from sea traffic. The different types of nanoparticles have previously not been distinguished, but this new method makes it possible”, said Adam Kristensson, an aerosol technology researcher in the university’s engineering faculty.
Kristensson’s group looked at data from a monitoring station in southern Sweden as prevailing winds carried emissions east over the Baltic Sea, to another station in Lithuania. Another station on Finland’s islands, on the northeast quarter of the Baltic, measured airflow toward the Lithuanian station.
For public health, marine traffic emissions might contribute to around 10,000 premature deaths a year in the region from pulmonary and cardiovascular conditions that are aggravated by air pollution, the Lund report says. But that estimate is very broad, and Kristensson said it is important to continue monitoring and set lower emission standards. A new North Sea and Baltic Sea regulation introduced this year will begin to impose a 0.1% (1,000 parts per million) sulphate level on marine diesel fuel, like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s standard.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Coast Guard issued a safety advisory for international vessel, cautioning that the switch to ultra-low sulfur fuel when entering American and other emission-controlled waters could bring unanticipated power drops in main engines.
“The Coast Guard has confirmed several reports it has received stating that main engines may not attain the expected speed when using ultra-low sulfur fuel oil,” the service said in a Nov. 19 advisory. Along with a detailed list of operational and maintenance precautions with switching to ultra-low sulfur fuel, the Coast Guard said ship masters and port pilots need to discuss maneuvering characteristics and potential loss of propeller rpms before entering U.S. ports.
