BfR Annual Report 2015

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75 Chemicals Safety
investigated to date, a reliable assessment of the hazard
potential for consumers is currently not possible. For this
reason, experimental fumigation of products like socks,
packing paper and sunflower seeds was performed by
the BfR in cooperation with the Central Institute for Oc-
cupational Medicine and the Julius Kühn Institute. The out-
gassing characteristics were shown to depend on both,
the applied agent and the fumigated product. In general,
the amounts observed after a few days were below the
limit values defined by the US Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment for a chronic exposure to the
respective fumigants. As different fumigants have recently
been identified simultaneously in the same transport con-
tainer, further experiments are being carried out to assess
potential combination effects.
i More information (in German) on fumigated containers:
Health hazards in the event of
maritime accidents
27 May 2015: the cargo ship “Purple Beach” was in-
volved in an accident to the south west of Helgoland.
When serious accidents of this kind occur, the Ger-
man Central Command for Maritime Emergencies is the
agency of the federal government and the federal states
(“Laender”) that heads the response by the emergency
services on federal, regional and municipal level. The ex-
pertise of the BfR is also requested in these cases, and
BfR scientists were on the scene within hours.
Highly irritant and harmful smoke rose from the ship and
drifted many kilometres across the sea. This was caused
by the incipient chemical decomposition of 6,000 tonnes
of a fertiliser containing ammonium nitrate in one of the
holds. The crew had already left the “Purple Beach”, and
a specialised firefighting unit had also been forced to
withdraw. When the BfR got involved, 25 measuring teams
had begun to determine potentially health-damaging sub-
stances in the air along the coast. The BfR was then in-
volved in the assessment of the health risk posed by the
smoke. The accident team had to assess both the situation
on board with the ongoing chemical reactions in the hold
as well as the potential further scenario. A precautionary
hazard warning was issued for a region encompassing the
area from Friesland to Wesermarsch and Jade, Cuxhaven,
Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven. A decision had to be
made as to how to continue to inform the population in
the coastal communities via the media and via the hotline
number that had been set up. Once the pollutant measure-
ments had been completed, it was possible to cancel the
warning. In the follow-up to the “Purple Beach” incident,
the BfR drew up proposals for the German Transport Min-
istry on the safe transport of these kinds of cargo. The
amendment of transport requirements was on the agenda
of the International Maritime Organisation of the United
Nations in the autumn of 2015.
The BfR is responsible for health assessments for the
maritime transport of hazardous goods. This means the
institute is involved not only in hazards resulting from
maritime vessels in the event of accidents but also and
among other things in cases where cargo residues are
washed ashore. For the last two years, the focus has
been on clumps of industrial hydrocarbon wax that have
washed ashore on beaches. This is believed to be due to
tank cleaning of chemical tankers.
The specialist expertise of the BfR in the field of health
risk assessment is underpinned by its continuous in-
volvement in national and international consultations on
the transport of hazardous goods. In the case of mari-
time accidents, this expertise plays a key role in man-
aging damage scenarios and ensures assessment of
health risks in line with state of the art practices in the
scientific field.
i You can find assessments of the health risks of cargo
residues from tanker vessels that have been washed
ashore (in German) at:
>>
The BfR is responsible
for health assessments for
the maritime transport of
hazardous goods.