Every day in every boatyard, marina and port, the cleaning of hulls, slipways and marine infrastructure kills billions of marine micro-organisms – all vital for sustaining wildlife and the food chain all the way up to human beings.
Eco friendly entrepreneur Gavin Moth says that by switching from bleach based algae cleaning products to his UK produced ethical Marine Algae Cleaner (MAC), the leisure and commercial marine industries can simply and cheaply provide massive help to the environment.
Gavin explained, ‘After witnessing first hand the damage caused to the ecosystem of a harbour which was cleaning slipways with nearly 200 litres of Sodium Hypochlorite every two months, I set out to find an alternative. There was nothing so I worked with UK inventor and manufacturer Oleonix to produce our non toxic Marine Algae Cleaner (MAC).
‘Now selling MAC on my ethical products website – www.go-stock.co.uk – we are striving to help make a massive impact because we know the scale of the issue is so great. This product can protect the marine habitats and creatures which sustain fish and crustaceans that feed birds, mammals such as seals and dolphins and of course humans via an increasingly economically challenged fishing industry.’
Commonly, the slip hazards caused by algae and weed are removed from boating infrastructure, such as piers, steps and slipways, and also from boat hulls with the use of bleach (Sodium Hypochlorite or Sodium Hydroxide). These biocides not only kill all living organisms they encounter before eventually breaking down.
Research has shown sodium hypochlorite induces catastrophic damage and suffering before death with effects such as reduced oxygen uptake due to gill damage, ‘melting’ of fin tissues and severe congestion of blood vessels and capillaries.
These traditional marine cleaning products also present a serious biohazard for workers applying it and for public leisure users of areas being treated. Workers should wear full PPE and avoid breathing fumes and any public or their pets risk burns if they make skin contact with the substances.
In contrast, the eco friendly MAC product is non toxic, non hazardous and adheres to the guidelines of both the governments Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Environment Agency (EA) Guidelines. As such, users do not need an EA environmental permit for Water Discharge Activity.
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