Chemical Fingerprints in Offshore Wind Farm Sediments from the North Sea

Non-target screening data from sediment samples collected within and around offshore wind farms in the Belgian and German North Sea. Over 8000 compounds were detected using GC-MS-EI and LC-HRMS-ESI±, with more than 1000 showing significantly higher abundance inside the wind farms. The dataset was authored by David Vanavermaete and last updated in May 2026.

Use Cases

• Identifying chemical emissions from offshore wind farms based on detected compounds.
• Comparing chemical abundance between wind farm sites and reference sites.
• Tentative identification of compounds originating from epoxy and polyurethane coatings.
• Assessing the potential environmental footprint of offshore renewable energy installations.

Strengths

• Over 8000 compounds detected across the study area.
• More than 1000 compounds showed significantly higher abundance inside offshore wind farms.
• Samples were collected from three types of reference sites for comparison.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The impact and effects of the identified chemicals are still unknown.

Provenance

Source

David Vanavermaete

Collection Method

Sediment samples collected within and around offshore wind farms and reference sites, analyzed via non-target screening using GC-MS-EI and LC-HRMS-ESI±.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-05 07:34:00; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Belgian and German parts of the North Sea.