Mission Tara Microplastics: a holistic set of protocols and data resources for the field investigation of plastic pollution along the land-sea continuum in Europe

Type Article
Acceptance Date 2023-05-04 IN PRESS
Language English
Author(s) Ghiglione Jean-François1, 2, Barbe Valérie3, Bruzaud Stéphane4, Burgaud Gaëtan5, Cachot Jerome6, Eyheraguibel Boris7, Lartaud Franck8, Ludwig Wolfgang9, Meistertzheim Anne-Leila10, Paul Pont Ika11, Pesant Stéphane2, 12, Ter Halle Alexandra13, Thiebeauld Odon14, The Mission Tara Microplastics Consortium
Contributor(s) Odobel Charlene, Philippe Anne-Charlotte, Morin Benoit, Weiss Lisa, Huvet ArnaudORCID, Dubreuil ChristineORCID, Galgani FrancoisORCID, Gerigny Olivia
Affiliation(s) 1 : CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire d’Océanographie Microbienne (LOMIC)/UMR 7621, Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls, Laboratoire d’Océanographie Microbienne, 1 Avenue Fabre, F-66650, Banyuls sur mer, France
2 : Research Federation for the Study of Global Ocean Systems Ecology and Evolution, R2022/Tara Oceans-GOSEE, Paris, France
3 : Génomique Métabolique, Genoscope, Institut François Jacob, CEA, CNRS, Univ Evry, Université Paris-Saclay, Evry, France
4 : UMR CNRS 6027, IRDL, Université Bretagne Sud, 56100, Lorient, France
5 : Univ Brest, INRAE, Laboratoire Universitaire de Biodiversité Et Écologie Microbienne, 29280, Plouzané, France
6 : Université Bordeaux, EPOC CNRS, EPHE, Université de Bordeaux, UMR 5805, 33600, Pessac, France
7 : CNRS, Université Clermont Auvergne, Institut de Chimie de Clermont-Ferrand (ICCF), UMR6296, Clermont-Ferrand, France
8 : CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire d’Ecogéochimie des Environnements Benthiques (LECOB)/UMR 8222, Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls, Banyuls Sur Mer, France
9 : CEFREM, UMR 5110, University of Perpignan - CNRS, 66860, Perpignan Cedex, France
10 : SAS Plastic@Sea, Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls, Banyuls Sur Mer, France
11 : Ifremer, CNRS, IRD, LEMAR, Univ Brest, F‐29280, Plouzané, France
12 : European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SD, UK
13 : CNRS, Laboratoire des InteractionsMoléculaires EtRéactivité Chimique Et Photochimique (IMRCP), UMR 5623, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
14 : ImmunRise Biocontrol France, Cestas, France
Source Environmental Science and Pollution Research (1614-7499) (Springer Science and Business Media LLC) In Press
DOI 10.1007/s11356-023-26883-9
Keyword(s) Microplastics, Land-sea continuum, Toxicology, Plastisphere, Scientific expedition
Abstract

Abstract The Tara Microplastics mission was conducted for 7 months to investigate plastic pollution along nine major rivers in Europe—Thames, Elbe, Rhine, Seine, Loire, Garonne, Ebro, Rhone, and Tiber. An extensive suite of sampling protocols was applied at four to five sites on each river along a salinity gradient from the sea and the outer estuary to downstream and upstream of the first heavily populated city. Biophysicochemical parameters including salinity, temperature, irradiance, particulate matter, large and small microplastics (MPs) concentration and composition, prokaryote and microeukaryote richness, and diversity on MPs and in the surrounding waters were routinely measured onboard the French research vessel Tara or from a semi-rigid boat in shallow waters. In addition, macroplastic and microplastic concentrations and composition were determined on river banks and beaches. Finally, cages containing either pristine pieces of plastics in the form of films or granules, and others containing mussels were immersed at each sampling site, 1 month prior to sampling in order to study the metabolic activity of the plastisphere by meta-OMICS and to run toxicity tests and pollutants analyses. Here, we fully described the holistic set of protocols designed for the Mission Tara Microplastics and promoted standard procedures to achieve its ambitious goals: (1) compare traits of plastic pollution among European rivers, (2) provide a baseline of the state of plastic pollution in the Anthropocene, (3) predict their evolution in the frame of the current European initiatives, (4) shed light on the toxicological effects of plastic on aquatic life, (5) model the transport of microplastics from land towards the sea, and (6) investigate the potential impact of pathogen or invasive species rafting on drifting plastics from the land to the sea through riverine systems.

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Ghiglione Jean-François, Barbe Valérie, Bruzaud Stéphane, Burgaud Gaëtan, Cachot Jerome, Eyheraguibel Boris, Lartaud Franck, Ludwig Wolfgang, Meistertzheim Anne-Leila, Paul Pont Ika, Pesant Stéphane, Ter Halle Alexandra, Thiebeauld Odon, The Mission Tara Microplastics Consortium. Mission Tara Microplastics: a holistic set of protocols and data resources for the field investigation of plastic pollution along the land-sea continuum in Europe. Environmental Science and Pollution Research IN PRESS. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-26883-9 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00835/94738/