Report of the Working Group on Marine Sediments in Relation to Pollution (WGMS)

The Working Group on Marine Sediments in Relation to Pollution (WGMS) met on 6–10 March 2017, in Ancona, Italy. The meeting was chaired by Celine Tixier (France) and Craig Robinson (UK) and attended by 8 other members from 6 countries; additional con-tributions were received from five staff of the host institute (ISMAR CNR) and from two local experts who were invited to contribute to WGMS ToRs.WGMS had six regular Terms of Reference due for completion in 2017. These require the Group to (1) respond to requests for advice; (2) work to promote the use of passive sam-pling in sediment contaminant monitoring; (3) report on the applicability of modelling to explain the distribution of sediment-associated contaminants in relation to potential sources; (4) to advise on deep sea sediment monitoring protocols; (5) investigate/review the potential for release of contaminants from marine renewable energy activities; (6) review emerging issues (e.g. microplastics, deep sea mining) as potential risks for envi-ronmental contamination by hazardous substances. Additionally, WGMS and Marine Chemistry Working Group (MCWG) jointly received a significant advisory ToR: (7) spe-cial request from OSPAR for advice on the selection /deselection of hazardous substanc-es.