Marine pollution is of prime concern to the Community (e.g. 75/437/EEC, COM(80) 361, COM(76) 688, 75/438/EEC)
Important indicator elements (conc. down to 0.1 ug/kg) in monitoring sea and estuarine water pollution are: Cd, Hg, As, Pb, Se, Cu, Zn and Cr. Besides the analytical difficulties e.g. caused by the low concentrations (sea water) or the presence of colloids (estuarine water), the major difficulties in certification are caused by stability and flocculation problems of the samples. Hence feasibility studies for the preparation and the verification of the stability formed a major part of the project.
