Hengstmann et al. Environmental Sciences Europe (2026) 38:20

Spotlight 2: microplastics
When looking at microplastics, which may be emitted in
the form of coating particles and/or particles from rotor
blade erosion, two different regulatory approaches have
been implemented in the countries considered. In Belgium
 and in the Netherlands, microplastics or specific
polymers are explicitly regulated. In Belgium, measures
to limit the emission of microplastics are required to be
described and submitted for approval to the committee
 supervising the ongoing activities at sea [18]. In the
Netherlands, rules for epoxy coatings are in place [22].
In contrast, microplastics and polymers are not explicitly
addressed in other national regulations but are implicitly
 covered by general minimization rules. Here, emissions
 are supposed to be minimized and/or introduction
of substances is prohibited (e.g. [2, 4]) which may also
include particulate matter from coatings or rotor blades,

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Recommendations and need for action
To summarize, the presented overview of national
regulatory approaches in several North Sea bordering
 countries shows that first regulations concerning
 chemical emissions and their monitoring have
been implemented, for example for corrosion protection
 measures. The comparative analysis also reveals
a substantial discrepancy across countries regarding
the specification of guidelines: rules vary in the level
of detail and not all types and sources of emission are
addressed. Transnational recommendations, e.g. by
OSPAR, address chemical emissions vaguely. However,
detailed recommendations could be effective in reducing
 chemical emissions e.g. as shown by the OSPAR
recommendations for offshore oil and gas installations
29]. Therefore, we see a clear need to address and
tackle the aspects named and described in the followıng
 subchapters in future (also see Fig. 1).

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