RAPID FIELD ASSESSMENT OF ANTIFOULING AND FOUL-RELEASE COATINGS

The development of non-toxic or non-polluting coatings that provide effective control of biofouling is a high-priority goal. The technology for such coatings involves antifouling methods other than traditional ones that rely on the sustained release of broad-spectrum biocides. Rapid field-testing procedures have been developed to facilitate and accelerate the evaluation of novel antifouling coatings. These procedures provide temporal discrimination of effectiveness which is important in improving potentially useful antifouling approaches that fail due to problems ranging from breakdown of active agents to physical failure of the coating. Two test procedures are described. The first provides information on intrinsic antifouling properties of coatings, and the second allows quantitative assessment of foul-release properties. Rapid field assessment fills the need for a bridge between laboratory findings and the more laborious, costly, and time-consuming tests based on long-term exposure of coated panels or prototype ship coatings.