This report describes results of the trend analysis of data collected under OSPAR's Riverine Inputs and Direct Discharges Monitoring Programme, under national and European assessments by Contracting Parties and under the Co-operative programme for monitoring and evaluation of the long-range transmission of air pollutants in Europe. It provides supporting evidence for conclusions on progress towards the specific targets of the OSPAR Hazardous Substances Strategy and Eutrophication Strategy 2010-2020 to reduce discharges and associated riverine inputs of pollutants to the North-East Atlantic.

The monitoring expertise shared by OSPAR Contracting Parties over the last ten years is illustrated here by different case studies carried out under voluntary national monitoring programmes, in both coastal and offshore areas, in sites with contrasted contamination patterns, and in the short and long term. They apply a combination of biomarkers and chemical contaminants from a core list of sentinel species that were selected according to their spatial distribution.

The combined impact of biota and sediments indicators was calculated using the CHASE method. For sediments, seven subregions had data to calculate the CHASE score, with only one subregion having good environmental status. For biota, data from 13 subregions were available, with only three subregions having good environmental status.