Global Trends in Pollution of Coastal Ecosystems


GESAMP Working Group 39 database


GESAMP, with the support of the IAEA and UNIDO constituted Working Group 39 with the goal to provide stakeholders, scientists and society in general, an objective and global assessment of pollution trends during the last century in coastal ecosystems.


The work is based on the collection and analysis of contaminant time series, mostly from sedimentary records, from peer-reviewed published papers. Data from selected contaminants are gathered by LME.

Quality assessed and fully referenced data are permanently stored in UNINMAR. The final report will also be available here.

When using the data, please include the following citation:

GESAMP (2018). “Global Trends in Pollution of Coastal Ecosystems”, (Ruiz-Fernández A.C. and Sanchez-Cabeza J.A., eds) (IMO/FAO/UNESCO-IOC/UNIDO/WMO/IAEA/UN/UNEP/UNDP Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection). Rep. Stud. GESAMP No. XXX, XXX p.


Useful links:

GESAMP WG39 database

GESAMP WG39 final report

Mercury in the Baltic Sea

Mercury in the Baltic Sea