Lola Matrand
Master student
EXPLORATION BLEUE
Plastic pollution, associated endocrine disruptors, and their impacts on marine biodiversity
Project at a glance
2023-2026
Banyuls-sur-Mer (FR)
Toulouse (FR)
French rivers and coastal waters
Acanthochromis polyacanthus
Aquatic ecotoxicology
Plastic pollution
Ecophysiology
Developmental biology
Context
Plastic pollution is now found throughout marine ecosystems, from rivers and coastal waters to the open ocean. As larger debris fragments into increasingly small particles, micro- and nanoplastics can persist in the environment, interact with marine organisms and act as carriers or sources of chemical contaminants, including compounds with endocrine-disrupting properties.
EXPLORATION BLEUE investigates this problem directly in the natural environment. Scientific expeditions collect plastics from rivers, coastal waters and offshore environments, from the surface down to 100 m depth, while complementary chemical and biological approaches characterise their fragmentation, associated contaminants and interactions with marine biodiversity.
By connecting environmental plastic contamination with experimental ecotoxicology, EXPLORATION BLEUE asks not only where plastic-associated pollutants occur, but whether environmentally relevant exposure can translate into measurable biological effects on marine organisms.
Objectives
From plastic contamination to developmental and functional effects
EXPLORATION BLEUE combines environmental chemistry, microbial ecology and experimental ecotoxicology to investigate the fate and biological consequences of plastic pollution. Within this multidisciplinary framework, at EcoEvoDevo we focus on the effects of plastic-associated contaminants during early fish development, from embryogenesis to functional performance at hatching.
Key questions
1. How do plastics interact with contaminants and microbial communities in the marine environment?
Across the EXPLORATION BLEUE consortium, environmental plastics are characterised according to their size, fragmentation and chemical composition, including contaminants that may be adsorbed onto or released from plastic particles. In parallel, the project investigates how plastic surfaces are colonised by marine microorganisms and how these microbial communities – the plastisphere – interact with plastic particles and their associated contaminants.
2. How does plastic-associated contamination affect fish embryonic development?
At EcoEvoDevo, experimental ecotoxicology assays are conducted on embryos of Acanthochromis polyacanthus to determine whether exposure to contaminants associated with plastic pollution disrupts early development. Effects are assessed through embryo survival, cardiac activity and the progression of key developmental traits, including pigmentation and organ formation.
3. Do developmental effects persist into functional performance at hatching?
Developmental disturbances may have consequences that only become apparent once the fish begins to function independently. At EcoEvoDevo, we therefore link embryonic responses to post-hatching performance by assessing swimming capacity at emergence, including burst swimming speed, to determine whether contaminant exposure translates into measurable impairment of fish performance.
From environmental plastics to biological consequences
EXPLORATION BLEUE connects the environmental dynamics of plastics with the biological processes they may disrupt. While other partners characterise plastic-associated contaminants and the microbial communities developing on plastic surfaces, at EcoEvoDevo we test whether these exposures interfere with fish embryogenesis and translate into altered physiological and functional performance. This integrated approach links environmental contamination to consequences at the organism level.
Project team and partners
SOFTMAT - CNRS, Université de Toulouse
Alexandra Ter Halle - Coordinator
Expédition Septième Continent
Magali Albignac
Patrick Deixonne
Patrick Deixonne
LOMIC - CNRS, Sorbonne Université
Jean-François Ghiglione
Marion Hingant
Marion Hingant
BIOM - CNRS, Sorbonne Université
Marc Besson
Laurence Besseau
Laurence Besseau
Related News
Related Publications
Interested in this research?
Our projects regularly involve Master students, PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers interested in marine Eco-Evo-Devo, ecotoxicology, behaviour and integrative biology.
