BALTIC SEAENVIRONMENT PROCEEDINGS No. 59 - Helcom

Trace elements:
Regarding particle-associated metallic trace elements, there is an
urgent need for intercomparison and standardization of the various
procedures.
Organic contaminants:
Data on contaminants other than DDT, PCBs, HCH and PHC are
generally few and scattered and produced with different, nonstandardized
analytical methods. This implies that it is not
possible to evaluate the distribution patterns or temporal trends
in the environmental levels of these IInewl' contaminants. Examples
of compounds that should be analysed on a more regular basis are
brominated biphenyls, brominated diphenylethers and chlorinated
thiophenes.
Organic contaminants in sediments are not assessed on a regular
basis within BMP. However, the first base-line study on
contaminants in Baltic sediments will be conducted in 1993 as a
joint ICES/HELCOM survey.
Diseases:
Information should be collected on the health status of the fish
and marine mammal populations from the Baltic Sea Area (i e
diseases, physiological and morphological anomalies).
SHORTCOMINGS OF BMP
The monitoring network which is set up should be designed in a way
so that it will correspond to its goals. However, the objectives
given by HELCOM are very general and may embrace almost every
aspect of marine pollution. The results of the BMP cannot at the
present stage of development give a full description of the state
of contamination of the marine environment in the Baltic Sea, and
do not permit estimations of inputs. The data obtained by BMP will
only allow trend analyses of concentrations over time and are
alone not sufficient to provide any cause-effect relationships. As
the BMP is restricted to measurements in the open sea, no
monitoring of local pollution sources is made. It is only through
an accurate assessment of contaminant inputs into the Baltic that
effective protection measures will be established.
The HELCOM Convention will also "apply for the protection of the
marine environment which comprises . . . their living resources and
other forms of marine life". This will coincide with the JMP
purpose (b): to assess the harm to living resources and marine
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