EU Commission declines to authorise antifouling ingredient
A victory for environmental protection: Cybutryn no longer to be used on boat hulls starting January 2017
![blue rowboats](https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/styles/800w400h/public/medien/2294/bilder/boote_weerawath_fotolia_94250859_m.jpg?itok=XVuQnSxZ&c=2e741336629300ff4bd34a5ad2d866ea)
Source: weerawath / Fotolia.com
Cybutryn, better known by its trade name Irgarol®, may no longer be used as the active substance in antifouling products after 27 January 2017. This is the result of a decision which the EU Commission had already reached on 27 January of this year. Antifouling substances inhibit the growth (fouling) of single-celled organisms, algae and small organisms such as barnacles and mussels on ship hulls through their slow release from paints and into the surrounding water. Once in the water they also cause harm to the local ecosystems, aquatic plants, copepods and algae. A high concentration of biocides is introduced to water bodies when newly coated boats are launched into water in spring.