"Tim" wrote in message
ps.com...

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
Mariners as early as 500 BC tried to protect their wooden ships by
various combinations of arsenic, sulfur, tars and oils. The British Navy
experimented with a sacrificial covering of wood covering tar, but it
wasn't successful. It wasn't until the invention of copper hull plating
that the Toredo worm became less of a problem.

Copper plating?
That would kinds dull their fangs, I'd imagine...


Mariners long ago discovered that one of the natural properties of copper
was it's ability to kill off bacteria preventing it from growing on it's
surface. Copper plating was used, later replaced by anti-fouling paint with
very high copper content (until it was banned).

Makes me wonder about any potential health hazards due to the increasing
practice of replacing copper pipes with PVC in the water supply side of new
homes.

Eisboch