| Summary: | In 2003, a national Swedish status and monitoring programme for contaminants in marine sediment (SSTMP) was launched. The programme is funded by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Swedish EPA) with the objective to investigate the status and long-termtrends of contaminants in the open sea within Swedish territorial water and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The programme includes sampling and analyses of surface sediments in 16 offshore stations every 5–6 years in order to fit the water management cycle in EU marine legislation. The monitoring stations are placed in the largest depressions along the Swedish coast and the obtained data can be used for a number of purposes such as following up on three of Sweden’s 16 environmental objectives: A non-toxic environment, A balanced marine environment, flourishing coastal areas and archipelagos and Zero eutrophication. From the start the SSTMP has been carried out in cooperation with the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) to meet the requirements of radioactivity monitoring in sediments. Data of radionuclides in sediment are used to follow-up on the national environmental objective A safe radiation environment. The framework of the SSTMP has been designed in accordance with recommendations from both the governing bodies for the protection of the marine environments in the Baltic Sea (HELCOM) and the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR). 16 offshore sample stations have been chosen to monitor pollutant levels in Swedish offshore sediments. Each sample station is defined as a circle with a 50 m radius in which seven sites for surface sediment sampling are randomly chosen at every monitoring occasion. The collected sediment is then analysed for heavy metals, organic substances and nutrients. By doing this, the accumulation of contaminants during recent years can be monitored. In addition to chemical data, geological information, underwater photographs and CTD data have been obtained at every station with the right conditions. All chemical data with additional ...
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