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There is a paucity of data on dissolved silver in the world’s oceans and almost no data for European marine waters. The available data indicate that silver co-varies with silicate in oceanic environments, suggesting a link to biological processes. Nevertheless, silver is a highly toxic element. The main sources of silver for the marine environment derive from anthropogenic inputs, so silver can be used as a tracer for inputs of domestic and industrial pollution. Typical concentrations in seawater samples are very low (pmol/L). These low concentrations, combined with the complexity of the seawater-sample matrix, make the determination of silver in these samples extremely challenging. Developments in sensitive sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SF-ICP-MS) instruments, combined with effective approaches for removal of the seawater matrix, have resulted in powerful analytical methods that can …