diff --git a/popsborder/contamination.py b/popsborder/contamination.py
index 3aad66a2..ff6bcb14 100644
--- a/popsborder/contamination.py
+++ b/popsborder/contamination.py
@@ -316,6 +316,37 @@ def add_contaminant_clusters_to_boxes(config, consignment):
     )
 
 
+
+def add_contaminant_clusters_to_items_with_subset_clustering(config, consignment):
+    """Add contaminant clusters to items in a consignment
+
+    Clustering equal to 0 means all items in the consignment can be contaminated with
+    equal probability, i.e., the cluster spreads over the whole consignment. Clustering
+    equal to 1 means that all items in the cluster are contaminated. The size of the
+    cluster is then directly determined by the contamination rate.
+    """
+    clustering = config["clustered"]["clustering"]
+    num_of_contaminated_items = num_items_to_contaminate(
+        config["contamination_rate"], consignment.num_items
+    )
+    if num_of_contaminated_items == 0:
+        return
+    subset_size = round(consignment.num_items * (1 - clustering))
+    if subset_size < num_of_contaminated_items:
+        subset_size = num_of_contaminated_items
+    if subset_size == consignment.num_items:
+        start_index=0
+    else:
+        start_index = np.random.randint(0, consignment.num_items - subset_size)
+    indexes = np.random.choice(
+        range(start_index, start_index + subset_size),
+        num_of_contaminated_items,
+        replace=False
+    )
+    consignment.items[indexes] = 1
+    assert np.count_nonzero(consignment.items) == num_of_contaminated_items
+
+
 def add_contaminant_clusters_to_items(config, consignment):
     """Add contaminant clusters to items in a consignment"""
     contaminated_units_per_cluster = config["clustered"][
@@ -385,9 +416,14 @@ def add_contaminant_clusters(config, consignment):
     """
     contamination_unit = config["contamination_unit"]
     if contamination_unit in ["box", "boxes"]:
+        if config["clustered"]["distribution"] == "subset":
+            raise RuntimeError("clustering distribution 'subset' is not supported for boxes")
         add_contaminant_clusters_to_boxes(config, consignment)
     elif contamination_unit in ["item", "items"]:
-        add_contaminant_clusters_to_items(config, consignment)
+        if config["clustered"]["distribution"] == "subset":
+            add_contaminant_clusters_to_items_with_subset_clustering(config, consignment)
+        else:
+            add_contaminant_clusters_to_items(config, consignment)
     else:
         raise RuntimeError(f"Unknown contamination unit: {contamination_unit}")
 
diff --git a/tests/test_contaminant_clusters_basic_distributions.py b/tests/test_contaminant_clusters_basic_distributions.py
index bdd40666..074209e3 100644
--- a/tests/test_contaminant_clusters_basic_distributions.py
+++ b/tests/test_contaminant_clusters_basic_distributions.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import datetime
 
 import numpy as np
+import pytest
 
 from popsborder.consignments import Box, Consignment
 from popsborder.contamination import add_contaminant_clusters
@@ -74,3 +75,26 @@ def test_random_clusters():
     contamination_rate = 0.12
     contaminated_items = int(num_items * contamination_rate)
     assert np.count_nonzero(consignment.items) == contaminated_items
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("contamination_rate", [0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, 1.0])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("clustering", [0.0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, 1.0])
+def test_add_contaminant_clusters_to_items_with_subset_clustering(contamination_rate, clustering):
+    """Test contaminant clusters with subset clustering"""
+    config_yaml = f"""
+    contamination:
+      contamination_rate:
+        distribution: fixed_value
+        value: {contamination_rate}
+      contamination_unit: item
+      arrangement: clustered
+      clustered:
+        distribution: subset
+        clustering: {clustering}
+    """
+    config = load_configuration_yaml_from_text(config_yaml)["contamination"]
+    num_items = 100
+    consignment = get_consignment(num_items)
+    add_contaminant_clusters(config, consignment)
+    contaminated_items = int(num_items * contamination_rate)
+    assert np.count_nonzero(consignment.items) == contaminated_items