Legislation
Control and registration of biocidal products is done by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency in the Danish Ministry of Environment (www.mst.dk) but at present this registration procedure does not extend to antifouling products.
In September 2003 the Ministry of the Environment published the Statutory Order no 792 of September 2, 2003 on restrictions on import, sale and use of biocidal antifouling paint. The order includes:
Import, sale and use of antifouling paint containing the biocides Diuron (CAS no. 330-54-1) or Irgarol (CAS no. 28159-98-0) on vessels of a total length of less than 25 metres, as defined by ISO 8666, shall be prohibited.
Import, sale and use of biocidal antifouling paint on pleasure craft which are used predominantly in freshwaters shall be prohibited.
Import, sale and use of biocidal antifouling paint, for which the release of copper exceeds 200 mg Cu/cm2 within the first 14 days and 350 mg Cu/cm2 within the first 30 days counted from the day it was applied, shall be prohibited on pleasure craft of more than 200 kilograms used primarily in salt waters.
Import, sale and use of biocidal antifouling paint on pleasure craft of less than 200 kilograms used primarily in salt waters shall be prohibited.
Import, sale and use of biocidal antifouling paint on pleasure craft releasing substances that meet the requirements of classification for environmental impact with the risk phrase "May cause long-term adverse effects in the aquatic environment" (R53) alone or in combination with other risk phrases concerning harm to the aquatic environment, shall be prohibited after 1 January 2006.
A good source of information about antifouling product use in Denmark is the publication 'Inventory of Biocidal Products used (in) Denmark', by the Danish EPA. This inventory surveys all of the biocidal products within the 23 product groups that are being evaluated in the EU Biocidal Products Directive. The information contained in this inventory was drawn from the Danish product register, Statistics Denmark and from private companies. For each of the product groups, including antifouling products, the report includes descriptions of application and function of biocidal products used in Denmark (and active ingredients), companies active in the market and rates of consumption.