Environmental risks associated with ballast water management systems that create disinfection by-products (DBPs)

Ballast water management systems that create disinfection by-products must be approved and may be withdrawn according to procedures described in the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) Resolution MEPC.169 (57). According to the Methodology approved by the IMO, risk assessment procedures evaluate the acceptability of chemicals with regard to ship safety, human health and the aquatic environment. A number of areas for amendment of the Methodology has been recognised and subsequently improved; however, according to existing scientific information, there is a possibility that certain risks are still underestimated. Therefore, it is important to monitor marine and coastal ecosystems carefully, particularly once IMO's International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments has become enforced.