Assessing the effectiveness of quality standards for marine benthos using data from the Tees Bay monitoring programme  <B>Assessing the effectiveness of quality standards for marine benthos using data from the Tees Bay monitoring programme</B><P><B>Nigel Shillabeer</B><I><P> Brixham Environmental Laboratory, Zeneca Ltd, Brixham, TQ5 8BA, UK</I><B><P> Abstract</B><BR> This paper applies a recently described method of setting standards for change in marine benthic communities, to long-term data from Tees Bay, an area which receives the outflow from the highly industrialized River Tees.<BR> The standards are applied to Treatment and Reference sites and the practical problems associated with the application of the technique are highlighted. The paper clearly demonstrates the problems associated with setting standards in areas of high natural variability and emphasizes the need for expert interpretation of results.<I><P> Keywords</I>:<B> </B>marine, benthos, long-term, standards, EQS (Environmental Quality Standards), NE England.<P>