Trace metal concentrations (copper, zinc, cadmium and lead) were measured in the silt fraction (grainsize < 63 µm) of surface sediment of the North Sea. The concentrations varied in different areas of the Dutch continental shelf of the North Sea. The trace metal concentrations were highly related with the fine grain-size fraction. High concentrations, especially of cadmium and lead, were related with a low percentage of the silt fraction. In the Southern Bight enhanced levels of copper and zinc and particularly high values of cadmium and lead were measured. The concentrations of copper, zinc and cadmium in whole body of the benthic invertebrate species brown shrimp ( Crangon crangon ) and starfish ( Asterias rubens ) did not vary significantly in specimen obtained from the different areas of the North Sea. In the shrimp Crangon allmanni the whole body concentration of zinc did not vary; the copper concentration tended to be lower in specimens from the northern part of the area studied (Dogger Bank), whereas the concentrations of cadmium were significantly (p < 0.01) higher in specimens from the north Dogger Bank area, compared with any other area of the North Sea. The concentration of the total of 35 individual polychlorinated biphenyls (EPCB) was highest in specimens of the brown shrimp Crangon crangon and the starfish Asterias rubens occurring in the coastal zone of the Southern Bight, compared with the central and northern part of the Dutch continental shelf of the North Sea. The EPCB concentrations in the shrimp Crangon allmanni were considerably lower than in the closely related species C. crangon . The concentrations of EPCB in the polychaete annelid Nephtys hombergii did not show significant differences in specimens from different areas of the North Sea. On the basis of PCB patterns identified in the organisms analysed, the North Sea can be divided into three areas: The northern part of the North Sea, with lowest EPCB concentrations with a relatively high contribution of low chlorinated congeners; ...