Many regulations have been put in place to prevent contamination, both internationally by OSPAR and the EU, and nationally by each Contracting Party. Changes in public behaviour and industrial practices also play a role (Table R.1).
OSPAR measures
The OSPAR Convention and its predecessors (the 1972 Oslo Convention and the 1974 Paris Convention) were the first international agreements on marine contamination. Under the Paris Convention, the Contracting Parties agreed to eliminate pollution by several substances (including organohalogen compounds, mercury, and cadmium) and to limit several other substances such as lead, arsenic, and copper. For offshore chemicals, a harmonised mandatory control system for offshore chemicals (HMCS) was first adopted in 1996 and promoted the continued shift towards the use of less hazardous substances in the petroleum industry. Within OSPAR, initiatives are taking place to bring this regulation in line with the European REACH regulation (see: Offshore Industry Thematic Assessment Response section ).
EU regulations
EU regulations have become increasingly important and effective. Since 2006, the REACH regulation has ensured that manufacturers, importers, and customers are aware of the health and safety impact of products supplied. This allows retailers to work with the manufacturing base to substitute or remove potentially harmful substances from products. The Water Framework Directive (2000) set water and biota standards with thresholds from 2008, applying pressure on Member States to decrease pollution. Some classes of substances have also been regulated or banned at the EU level, such as PBDEs. Several EU Members are currently proposing to prohibit PFAS.
Global treaties
The most important global treaties on contamination are the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (effective from 2004), the International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems on Ships (which calls for a global prohibition of organotins by 2008) and the Minamata Convention on Mercury (which entered into force in 2017).
National legislation
In many cases, national legislation has regulated or banned chemicals before legislation is brought in at the international level, as with the restrictions on the use of PCBs in the 1970s and 1980s. Another example is the restrictions imposed on the use of neonicotiniods in some EU countries before the main neonicotinoids were banned in the EU from the end of 2018.
| PBDE | The use of pentaBDE and octaBDE mixtures was banned in the European Union in 2004. Under the Stockholm Convention, TetraBDE, pentaBDE, hexaBDE and heptaBDE were regulated in 2009 and decaBDE in 2017. |
|---|---|
| Hydrocarbons and PAHs | PARCOM Recommendations: 1981 on the Production, collection, regeneration and disposal of waste oils; 1987 on Discharges from reception facilities and oil terminals. In the mid-2000s harmonised reporting and analysis methods were agreed by OSPAR, leading to the 2010 Recommendation on the Prevention of significant acute oil pollution, and in 2017 to agreement on monitoring guidelines for the environmental impact of offshore oil and gas activities. |
| PCB | Restrictions in use during the 1980s through the Stockholm Convention. PARCOM Decision in 1992 on the phasing-out of PCBs and hazardous PCB substitutes. |
| Organotins | Banned locally on pleasure boats from 1980s, ratified IMO ban from 2008, a few Caribbean countries had still not ratified IMO ban in 2022. |
| Arsenic | None |
| Cadmium | Paris Convention from 1974 reduced land inputs; a number of recommendations for reducing cadmium pollutions issued in the 1980s, followed by further OSPAR agreement on programmes and measures for mercury and cadmium batteries in 1990 (PARCOM Decision 90/2) |
| Chromium | None |
| Copper | OSPAR Best Environmental Practice for the Primary Non-Ferrous Metal Industry 1998 |
| Mercury | Step-wise usage bans in OSPAR area from 1974 Paris Convention; a range of agreements during the 1980s banning use of mercury in dental products, thermometers and batteries and limiting water-borne emissions; then expansion in the 1990s and 2000s with more restrictions on crematoriums and paper industries. Worldwide Minamata Convention signed in 2013, aimed at working towards total ban on mining of mercury by 2020. |
| Nickel | OSPAR Best Environmental Practice for the Primary Non-Ferrous Metal Industry 1998 |
| Lead | OSPAR Best Environmental Practice for the Primary Non-Ferrous Metal Industry 1998 Ban on leaded fuels effective worldwide except in African continent during 1990s; finally phased out worldwide in 2022. |
| Zinc | OSPAR Best Environmental Practice for the Primary Non-Ferrous Metal Industry 1998 |
| PFAS | EU phase-out of 200 PFAS substances in 2021, aiming for a general ban later. |
| Dredging | 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (updated by London Protocols of 1996 and 2006) 1984 OSCOM Selection and Monitoring of Dumping Grounds 1986 OSCOM Control of the Execution of Dumping Operations at Sea 1989 OSPAR Monitoring of Dumping Grounds OSPAR collects yearly information on dumping at sea using the OSPAR Reporting Format for Dumping at Sea, last revised in 2018. |
Are these measures working?
Given the declines in the determinants being measured, they do appear to be working to some degree, but sources of contaminants still exist and their extent is still great enough to have an impact.
Human activities and their associated pressures should see new / improved measures be applied / prioritised, e.g., in waste disposal. Coastal development could disturb seabed sediment (e.g., through dredging of contaminated sediments from shipping lanes and harbours).
| Impact | Cumulative Effects |