Plastic pollution, biodiversity at risk

Acknowledgements

Philippe Jarne

Foreword

Angèle Préville and Philippe Bolo

Introduction

Fabienne Lagarde and Pascale Fabre

Plastics: a revolutionary material

Plastics at the confluence of the triple planetary crisis of climate, pollution and biodiversity

From the presence of plastic to its impacts

Part 1. A world under plastic

Introduction

Jean-François Ghiglione

Chapter 1. What are plastics and their debris?

Roxane Danquigny, Cloé Veclin, Javier Jimenez-Lamana, Bruno Grassl and Stéphanie Reynaud

Plastic materials: history, production and uses

When plastics become waste

Waste: from macroplastics to nanoplastics

Chapter 2. Environmental monitoring: how to quantify, characterize and track plastic pollution?

Marie-France Dignac, Wolfgang Ludwig, Philippe Kerhervé, Bruno Charrière, Gaël Le Roux, Gaëlle Darmon, Franck Lartaud and Jean-Christophe Auguet

Microplastics in soils: sources, content and fate

Plastics in rivers: how can we track them and quantify their contribution to the sea?

Mass balance and the mountain critical zone: quantification in an experimental watershed

In search of sentinels of plastic pollution in the environment

Conclusion

References

Part 2. Impacts on organisms

Introduction

Chapter 1. Impacts on continental organisms

Camille Larue, Franck Gilbert, Gaëlle Darmon and Claude Miaud

Interactions between plastic particles and terrestrial plants

Impacts on terrestrial and aquatic engineering organisms

Impacts on terrestrial and river fauna

Chapter 2. Impacts on marine organisms

Karen D. McCoy, Marion Vittecoq, Xavier Cousin, Gaëlle Darmon, Claude Miaud, Jean-Christophe Auguet and Franck Lartaud

Seabirds, model species for plastic pollution

Impacts on fish

Ingestion of plastics in sea turtles

Impacts on marine engineering organisms

Entanglement phenomena, a direct impact on marine organisms

Conclusion

References

Part 3. Impacts on ecosystems

Introduction

Chapter 1. Impacts on soil functions

Marie-France Dignac

Impacts on soil biodiversity

Impacts on plant production

Disruption of biogeochemical cycles impacting plant nutrient cycles

Impacts on other soil functions: water content, density, porosity

Still little known, the impact of plastic chemicals

Chapter 2. Impacts on coastal ecosystems and marine food webs

Ika Paul-Pont, Kevin Tallec and Arnaud Huvet

Coastal ecosystems: a pathway for plastic waste to enter the sea

Impacts on phytoplankton, the first link in the trophic chain

Trophic transfer

Impacts on coastal engineering species

Seafood contamination and food safety

Chapter 3: Impacts on the seabed

François Galgani

Heterogeneous distribution

Fishing gear

Significant impacts on ecosystems

What are the prospects?

Chapter 4. Plastics, vectors of harmful micro-organisms and pollutants

Ika Paul-Pont, Gaëtan Burgaud, Jean-François Briand, Arnaud Huvet and Mélanie Ourgaud

Plastics: floating rafts and a new ecological niche

Plastics: source and vector of a cocktail of contaminants

Conclusion

References

Part 4. The plastics transition: what obligations, what alternatives and what solutions for what impacts on biodiversity?

Introduction

Chapter 1: Regulatory issues

Loïc Peyen and François Galgani

Existing regulations and obligations

What regulations for tomorrow?

Chapter 2. Towards circular management of plastic waste to protect biodiversity

Emmanuelle Gastaldi

The end-of-life of plastic packaging

Plastic waste management and the circular economy

Chapter 3. Biodegradable plastics: a solution to plastic pollution?

Jean-François Ghiglione

What is the definition of a biodegradable plastic?

Are these plastics biodegradable in all environments?

What are biodegradable plastics used for?

Can the use of biodegradable plastics be dangerous?

How is biodegradability measured?

What are the limits of standard biodegradability tests?

Conclusion

References

General conclusion

Stemming plastic pollution, a new paradigm for research

Widespread awareness, but a response that falls short of the stakes

References

List of coordinators, authors and contributors

Coordination of the book

Authors / contributors

Iconographic credits