News | Chichester Harbour Environmental Studies

Bridging the Gap Between Science and Policy – End-of-Life Boats

Microparticulate pollution is now recognized by the UN Environmental Program as an environmental issue of global scale. Glass reinforced plastic (GRP) are composite materials made of plastics reinforced with glass fibres used in the construction of boats and wind turbines. Our group is at the forefront of the research to better understand the GRP contamination…

Aerial view of shore and water at Chichester Harbour

Les bateaux abandonnés, une menace pour les eaux canadiennes

Article for Radio Canada, 9 March 2024 by Camille Vernet “… Un danger pour la vie aquatique La biologiste marine Corina Ciocan, de l’Université de Brighton, en Angleterre, a été l’une des premières scientifiques à mettre en lumière les dangers de la fibre de verre, présente dans les matériaux de construction de la coque des bateaux….

Hole in fibre glass boat showing strands of fibre

Nautical not nice: how fibreglass boats have become a global pollution problem

Fibreglass fuelled a boating boom. But now dumped and ageing craft are breaking up, releasing toxins and microplastics across the world. An article in The Guardian by Corina Ciocan, 6 Aug 2020. Where do old boats go to die? The cynical answer is they are put on eBay for a few pennies in the hope…

Sorting through shellfish catch from fishing trawler, Chichester Harbour

First evidence of GRP boats’ “cancerous” impact on aquatic life

Microscopic analysis of oysters, mussels and sediment from Chichester Harbour has uncovered a dizzying number of glass fibres linked back to boatyards and derelict vessels. Article by Laura Hodgetts July 20, 2022, in Practical Boat Owner. Embed and links below. First evidence of GRP boats’ “cancerous” impact on aquatic life

The problem with boating’s high-fiberglass diet

Fiberglass revolutionised boating, but decades later, discarded and degraded vessels are adding to marine pollution. We can do something about it. Article July 11 2023 by Norman Miller in Hakai Magazine. Freelance journalist and former University of Brighton Senior Press Officer Norman Miller highlights the important work Corina Ciocan is conducting at Chichester Harbour. Embed and…

Microparticulate analysis of Chichester and Langstone Harbour water

With grants from Langstone Harbour and Final Straw Foundation Corina Ciocan, Dipak Sarker and Magdalena Grove are investigating the water quality in Chichester and Langstone Harbours, in relation to the CSOs effluents and climate change events. Chichester and Langstone Harbours are tidal estuarine habitats and some of the most intensively used waters in the UK….

Starfish at Chichester Harbour with oil debris on sand

REDPOL 2022

Reduction of pollution by endocrine disrupting compounds at source REDPOL was part of the Interreg France – (Channel) England partnership and drew on the collaborative work of French and UK research institutions, members of industry and regional organisations. The consortium was led by the Université Le Havre-Normandie (ULHN) and is composed of l’Université de Caen,…

Bringing up a net of shellfish, Chichester Harbour

CUPP research 2018

How can we better understand micro plastic pollution? This partnership began with the University of Brighton’s Community University Partnership Project (CUPP). It began with a 2018 pilot study to explore plastic pollution in Chichester Harbour. One of the issues of concern is the significant decline in recent years of the oyster population in the harbour…