Are HNS spills more dangerous than oil spills [433KB] plus Appendix (Review of chemical spills at sea and lessons learned) (468Kb)
A White Paper for the Interspill Conference & 4th IMO R&D Forum, Marseille, May 2009 prepared by Dr Karen Purnell, Managing Director, ITOPF
Summary
While the hazards and consequences of oil spills are well known, little information exists for
chemical spills. Words such as ‘carcinogenic’, ‘mutagenic’, and ‘neurotoxic’, which appear on
shipping documents, are readily misinterpreted and extrapolated to worst-case scenarios
causing public apprehension and mistrust. This paper attempts to answer the question ‘Are HNS
Spills More Dangerous Than Oil Spills?’ by reviewing the current arrangements for prevention,
preparedness and response and evaluating these against the potential for serious harm from
HNS and lessons learned from past incidents, including knowledge from studies of chemical
spills at sea.