Air-sea benzene and toluene fluxes can be estimated using the bulk two-layer model , which requires concentrations of benzene and toluene in the surface ocean and lower atmosphere. Ambient air measurements of benzene and toluene have become very common, especially since the introduction of Proton Transfer Reaction-Mass Spectrometers . However, to our knowledge, there have been very few reported concentrations of benzene and toluene in seawater. Only Sauer reported 64-192 pmol dm -3 benzene and 32-108 pmol dm -3 toluene in unpolluted surface seawater of the gulf of Mexico. There are no measurements alongside biological proxies in the water column at different depths, which could give important clues to their sources and sinks in the ocean. With anthropogenic activity likely to increase in the changing polar regions, seawater measurements of benzene and toluene are timely and represent a useful benchmark. Rocco et al. performed benzene and toluene flux observations in the Southern Ocean, however their flux estimates were restricted to a few episodes and relied upon the indirect nocturnal accumulation method . Such observations of episodic outgassing from the ocean are not sufficient to ascertain if the ocean is a pervasive net source of benzene and toluene, given the variety of other sources to the global atmosphere.