Publications by authors named "G Duflos"
Self-organized spatial patterns are increasingly recognized for their contribution to ecosystem functioning. They can improve the ecosystem's ability to respond to perturbation and thus increase its resilience to environmental stress. Plastic pollution has now emerged as major threat to aquatic and terrestrial biota.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDue to limitations of sampling methods, subsurface water is usually a less well-investigated compartment of the water column when scientists assess microplastic contamination. In this study, microplastic (MP) contamination was assessed in a freshwater river both in surface and subsurface using an innovative sampling method. Microplastic contamination in the lower part of the water column, i.
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- The rise in plastic production and poor waste management has caused significant pollution in marine environments, leading to various toxic effects from plastics.
- These effects can be physical (like injuries to the intestines), chemical (toxins leaching out), and biological (transmission of pathogens).
- The review highlights the need for better ecological risk assessments and testing methods for plastics, emphasizing the importance of adapting toxicity studies to the unique properties of plastics to inform more effective legislation.
Article Synopsis
- The text discusses the need for standardized methods to isolate and count microplastics, highlighting the importance of using reference materials with known quantities of particles.
- It introduces a new method that employs transparent, sealed capsules filled with custom-made microplastics, which ensures easy handling and avoids loss during experiments.
- The method is low-cost, user-friendly, and allows control over the size, shape, and composition of microplastics, making it suitable for various testing protocols across water, sediment, and biological samples.
This opinion paper offers a scientific view on the current debate of the place of biodegradable plastics as part of the solution to deal with the growing plastic pollution in the world's soil, aquatic, and marine compartments. Based on the current scientific literature, we focus on the current limits to prove plastic biodegradability and to assess the toxicity of commercially used biobased and biodegradable plastics in natural environments. We also discuss the relevance of biodegradable plastics for selected applications with respect to their use and end of life.
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