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This report compiles available Threshold Values (TVs) for marine chemical contaminants at EU, regional and beyond EU level, provides relevant information and discussion points for TV derivation and implementation, and outlines the main hindrances and potential approaches to fill the gaps. This document is a product of the MSFD Expert Network on Contaminants and is intended as a background guidance document to support developments to improve consistency in marine contaminant assessments. The report highlights the reality of the lack of knowledge about reference values (whether they are background, threshold or Environmental Quality Standard values) for many contaminants in the marine environment. Although regulations and frameworks are in place, and new ones are being implemented, the assessment of Good Environmental Status will remain difficult without high quality environmental and toxicological data. The variety of applied TVs is hindering a comparable assessment of problematic substances and the necessary reduction/phase-out measures. Considering the huge work needed to develop TVs and the high number of potential contaminants, current approaches need to be reviewed. Furthermore, the concerns on the environmental significance of TVs when they are not based on sufficient data and relevant assessment factors, and the difficulty to generalise TVs for all matrix/species monitored, call for discussions on resource-efficient TV development and potential alternative ways forward.

According to Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848 under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), EU Member States (MS) shall consider, in their Descriptor 8 primary criterion (D8C1) assessments, the WFD Priority Substances (PS) and River Basin Specific Pollutants (RBSP) within coastal and territorial waters and also beyond territorial waters if these still may give rise to pollution effects. Some WFD PS might not be relevant for the marine environment in the open sea and, consequently, might be excluded from MSFD monitoring beyond the territorial waters. MS have expressed the need for a framework for the deselection of WFD PS from monitoring under the MSFD, in order to save resources. The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), collaborating within the MSFD Expert Network on Contaminants, has developed a pragmatic approach to identify the WFD PS that can be excluded from MSFD monitoring in the open sea beyond territorial waters without reducing protection of European Seas. This should preempt the need for individual MS to provide rationales for such exclusions, support comparable monitoring and assessments across national boundaries, and enable MS to focus their monitoring efforts on other (including emerging) substances that require attention.