Contaminant and biological effect data to support MSFD Descriptor 8 1999-2015 by CSEMP Region

The 2016 assessment of the UK's Clean Seas Environment Monitoring Programme described the status and trends of contaminant concentrations and biological effects measurements in biota and sediment at monitoring stations in waters around the UK. Assessments were made for a large number of time series, typically each of a single contaminant in a single species (for biota) at a single monitoring station. The results of the individual time series at coastal and offshore stations were synthesised to assess status and trends at the biogeographic regional level and formed the basis of eleven of the indicator assessments that comprised the UK's 2018 MSFD assessment of Descriptor 8.

Acknowledgement for data collectors and contributors:
Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (Afbi)
Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture (CEFAS)
Environment Agency
Marine Scotland
Natural Resources Wales
Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
British Oceanographic Data Centre
Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA)