Marine chemical contaminants – support to harmonized MSFD reporting: Substances considered for MSFD descriptor 8

Abstract

The 2018 reporting on updates of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) Articles 8, 9 and 10 will be supported by web forms to aid completion of the XML files by Member States. It is planned to use, wherever possible, drop-down lists to facilitate data entry, thereby also helping to ensure consistency in the data entered. This report outlines a process to prepare a list of contaminants for use in 2018 MSFD D8 reporting (as drop-down lists in the reporting web forms). This list assists in using a harmonized nomenclature for the unambiguous identification of the substances, thereby facilitating consistency in the data entry. Additionally, the compilation of the list allows for comparisons between Member States and marine regions that may support the processes of selection of relevant contaminants for D8 assessments.