The NCCOS Regional Ecological Assessments (REA) and NOAA National Benthic Inventory (NBI) include observations of water quality, sediment quality, fish and shellfish tissue chemical contaminants, and benthic infaunal abundance obtained from studies conducted since 1991 by NOAA and partnering institutions in estuarine and coastal-ocean areas of the United States. Measured parameters include: location and date of the sampling event, measures of water quality (e.g., temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nutrients), sediment quality (e.g., grain size, total organic carbon, chemical contaminant concentrations, toxicity), fish and shellfish tissue chemical contaminants (e.g., concentrations of metals, PAHs, PCBs, PBDEs, organic pesticides), and infaunal assemblages (e.g., taxon, abundance).