This is especially true if the spill is sizeable and wildlife is affected.

It's with this in mind that a number of the manufacturers of such products are looking to produce what could be thought of as more "environmentally friendly" products.

Quite apart from their wish to treat the environment with more respect, makers are also seemingly becoming more aware that buyers are also looking to a greener approach.

TAP marine is one such company. Based in Nailsea, Somerset, TAP's William Irving told us: "End users are becoming aware of the implications of the use of such products, but as far as we can tell, it's not affecting the buying decision." At least not yet.

Sadly despite our requests for a comment on current rules and regulations covering this area the Environment Agency declined to provide us with any details.

However when it comes to buying TAP feels the majority of buyer's decisions are price led and to that end the company have reduced prices recently.

However the company continues to produce "greener" products by reducing, or doing away with altogether, caustic ingredients that, apart from doing little for the surrounding area and the person using it, also cause corrosion to aluminium fittings and ruin antifoul coatings if allowed to run off the deck to the hull.

The same philosophy behind these products is also used across the range, including in the new sail and canopy cleaner and in a new, quick drying restoration solution for teak.

Reducing the need to clean is not only environmentally friendly but also of interest to most owners, as in who wants to spend time on a chore like that ?

Creative Resins

Distribution's A Glaze product range approaches the problems of keeping a hull clean by coating the area with a glaze sealant to keep out the dirt and pollutants that discolour GRP and other materials.

Gaining approvals

Over the last 12 months the company, based in Kent, has been successful in gaining Fairline's approval for the use of the product on its range.

Sunseeker has also given its approval.

Both companies conducted extensive tests before giving their approval for use.

2005 has also seen the introduction of the product into New Zealand and the MD of Creative Resins Distribution, Michael Bollom, told BB: "Early indications look good and it's hoped that these trials and evaluations will prove successful."

As for the environmental impact, Bollom says: "Most of our boat cleaner ranges are for application out of the water so the potential for damage is limited."

However, even the cleaners sold by the company have had the levels of acids reduced.

These components have been replaced with ingredients that disperse quickly and are said to do minimal damage.

This reduction in the acid levels would seem to have done little to reduce the product's effectiveness as it was recently given 10 out of 10 by Practical Boat Owner in a test of hull cleaners.

Most users are guilty of not always using the right cleaners for the car and the same goes for boats and one company has been able to link this fact with their involvement in sailing.

Ecover, sponsors of the Mike Golding yacht racing team, supply Golding with products to use on board during races.

With limits on space he's used the products supplied, not only "as intended", but also to clean the boat itself.

Golding told us: " We use a whole range of Ecover products, Squirteco for the interior, the heavy duty hand cleaner to clean our hands afterwards, and the shower gel for washing at sea."

Interestingly, he added, we use the washing up liquid to clean the decks - not only do they (Ecover) provide us with very effective cleaning products, but we have the added bonus of knowing that we aren't polluting the marinas by using them.

Untapped market So with more buyers showing interest in the impact their cleaners have maybe Ecover has an, as yet, untapped market.

As if further justification for a greener approach were needed, recent legislative changes have seen the introduction by a number of suppliers and distributors of new cases and packaging for many of the boat care type products.

This has been driven by the ADR ruling regarding road transportation of dangerous goods. The major impact of this to the chandlery trade is that boat care products containing chemicals considered hazardous can be shipped in limited quantities providing they have the supporting documentation with them or are packed in cases bearing correct labelling.

This labelling takes the form of a 100mm diamond shape in which the product UN number is displayed. Two pairs of underlined arrows should also be used to indicate the package is "This Way Up".

To ensure that this is complied with, manufacturers are now packaging these products in boxes bearing the correct designation and labelling. As a result a lot of distributors, like Mark Dowland Marine, are following this line through by encouraging trade customers to purchase in full cases through advantageous pricing or offering boxed units.

This also has a side benefit of the supplier packing remaining intact, so the product arrives at the trade customer in the same condition that it is shipped from the manufacturer.

The new legislation came into force at the beginning of 2005 and adds to the existing requirements for Material Safety Data Sheets on cleaning type product that needs to be considered by suppliers, distributors and retailers alike. Obviously the greener the product, the less of a hazard it poses both in transit and in use.

MDM carries a number of boat care ranges including Starbrite, International's Yachtline range and Sika Cleaning, so I asked Andrew Watson, MDM's marketing manager, how things have developed.

Steady increase

"Over the past four years there has been a steady increase in the sales of major boat care brands with some of the wellknown brands increasing by 35% over this period, " he said.

"This has also been matched by the number of products in the market with retail customers becoming more aware of there being specially developed products for specific jobs now available."

Watson says this can only be good news for the wellestablished brands out in the marketplace as they see encouragement in bringing new product to the market whilst growing their business on their established lines.

There has been a further development of the market with existing brands with strong reputations entering the boat care market with their own ranges - International Paint with its Yachtline range and, more recently, Sika with a range of teak care and cleaning products.

"Both these companies are trading on established marine brands into adjacent product markets to take advantage of the retail customers awareness, " said Watson.

Rob Crowe of Marathon Leisure told us sales of this type of product are quite good and although they've not noticed any major new buying trends that reflect the environmental considerations of the end users, they do have to take into account the packaging when using commercial carriers.

Any product that, if spilt, could constitute a hazard has to be packaged to meet the sometimes stringent requirements of the carrier.

Marathon is looking at a number of new products for this range and Crowe told us the green credentials of these potential additions to the range are a "prime consideration".

Plastimo has (like Marathon) yet to see any evidence of a trend towards environmentally friendly products, however, sales manager Ross Wilkinson says he expects this will happen.

Since the beginning of February Plastimo has carried the Starbrite range, which Wilkinson feels fits well into the range of products on offer.

Overall this sector of the market, he says, is doing well with "good volumes" being sold.