Background Concentrations for Metals in the North Sea: Sediment, Water, Mussels and Atmosphere

Within the last decade, understanding of the biogeochemistry of trace metals in the marine environment has increased considerably. At the beginning of the 1980s, reliable sampling and analytical techniques became available to detect the relatively low metal concentrations in sea water. At the same time, concern over the possible adverse effects of environmental contamination by metals led to increased research effort in the field. The presence of detectable metal concentrations in the environment, however, is not necessarily indicative of contamination. With the exception of certain radionuclides the ubiquitous presence of metals in water, sediment and the atmosphere is entirely anticipated and arises from their natural occurrence in the earth’s crust.