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4 Sampling procedure and sampling sites 
4.1 Water and sediment sampling 
Water and sediment samples from the North Sea and the Baltic Sea were taken by the 
Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und 
Hydrographie, BSH). Sampling was performed in the course of routine monitoring 
cruises in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Five of the 7 cruises took place in summer (May to 
September), and two in winter (February). The main survey area for water and sediment 
sampling covers the German Bight and the western Baltic Sea (up to the Baltic Proper). 
In addition, water samples were taken during a 2003 survey covering the entire North 
Sea and during a 2004 research cruise to the Arctic Atlantic. The sampling stations are 
shown in Figures 2 to 4. 
The cruises are designed mainly for the German national monitoring program BLMP 
(Bund-Lander-Messprogramm) and for international programmes of OSPAR 
(Coordinated Environmental Monitoring Programme [CEMP]) and HELCOM 
(Cooperative Monitoring in the Baltic Marine Environment (COMBINE)). 
As sampling is performed according to the relevant guidelines, the results of this project 
can be fully integrated into existing monitoring programmes and used in the 
assessments. This is particularly important with respect to the occurrence and spatial 
distribution of hazardous substances included in the list of hazardous substances for 
priority action under the OSPAR hazardous substances strategy. The sampling design 
chosen also allows such new substances to be assessed in relation to pollutants that have 
already been monitored for several years.