A Pan-European study of the bacterial plastisphere diversity along river-to-sea continuums.

Microplastics provide a persistent substrate that can facilitate microbial transport across ecosystems. Since most marine plastic debris originates from land and reaches the ocean through rivers, the potential dispersal of freshwater bacteria into the sea represents a significant concern. To address this question, we explored the plastisphere on microplastic debris (MPs) and on pristine microplastics (pMPs) as well as the bacteria living in surrounding waters, along the river-sea continuum in nine major European rivers sampled during the 7 months of the Tara Microplastics mission.

Untargeted metabolomic insights into plastisphere communities in European rivers.

Every year, rivers introduce a staggering amount of hundred kilotons of plastic into the Oceans. This plastic is inhabited by microorganisms known as the plastisphere, which can be transferred between different ecosystems through the transport of microplastics. Here, we simulated the microbial colonization of polyethylene-based plastic pellets that are classically used to manufacture large-scale plastic products.

Study of sequential abiotic and biotic degradation of styrene butadiene rubber.

Styrene butadiene rubber is one of the main constituents of tire tread. During tire life, the tread material undergoes different stresses that impact its structure and chemical composition. Wear particles are then released into the environment as weathered material.

Assessing biodegradation of roadway particles via complementary mass spectrometry and NMR analyses.

Roadway particles (RP) that can be collected with on-vehicle system, consist of a mixture of Tire and road wear particles (TRWP) with other traffic-derived particles (exhaust or non-exhaust) and/or biogenic compounds and represent a significant source of xenobiotics, susceptible to reach the different environmental compartments. The study of the RP fate is thus a major challenge to tackle in order to understand their degradation and impact. They offer a variety of carbon sources potentially usable by microorganisms, ranging from the tire-derived plasticizers, vulcanizing agents, protective agents and their transformation products, to other traffic, road and environmental-derived contaminants.