A Global Oceanic Dataset of Dissolved Organophosphate Esters

Organophosphate esters (OPEs) are synthetic compounds widely used as plasticizers and flame retardants in consumer and industrial products. Their increasing detection in marine environments worldwide, coupled with evidence of persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity, has raised concerns about their long-term ecological impacts. Given the rapid expansion of oceanic OPE measurements, it is timely to synthesize existing observations and provide a consolidated view of where and which OPEs have been measured to date. Here we present the oceanic OrganoPhosphate Ester dataset (oceanOPEv2025), which compiles 760 seawater measurements from 26 studies conducted between 2014 and 2025. This dataset represents a comprehensive synthesis of OPE concentrations across global ocean basins and seas, offering compiled data on detection frequencies, concentration ranges, and spatial distributions for 24 OPEs. Among the potential applications of oceanOPEv2025, we highlight three priorities for advancing our understanding of OPE transport and fate in marine systems: expanding compound coverage to include high-production OPEs, extending spatial sampling to undersampled basins, and increasing vertical profiling to characterize subsurface distributions. The dataset is publicly accessible with comprehensive metadata, enabling integration with oceanographic databases and facilitating research on the global-scale distribution of these emerging contaminants.