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Plastic Debris Flowing from Rivers to Oceans: The Role of the Estuaries as a Complex and Poorly Understood Key Interface

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Handbook of Microplastics in the Environment

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Abstract

After several investigations on plastic pollution in marine environments, the issue was raised in continental environments, mainly rivers. The latter was extensively studied as a potentially significant source of marine plastic debris. However, the estuaries represent a transition environment between continental and marine areas, making it a critical interface. Only limited studies were conducted on these environments that present the extra-complexity of being under the influence of variable and poorly understood dynamics. For instance, tidal cycles, salinity gradient, and maximum turbidity front are all estuarine characteristics that need to be considered when studying such an environment. The present review evaluates the current state of knowledge and assesses the way different studies deal with the estuarine specificities. It discusses the dynamics underwent by the plastic debris in estuaries. Ultimately, the question of the role of the estuaries, either as sources or sinks of plastic pollution, is raised.

Rachid Dris and Romain Tramoy are equal contributors.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the GIP Seine-Aval and the Seine-Normandie water Agency for funding the Plastic-Seine Project and the PhD position of Soline Alligant. The Postdoctoral activities of Romain Tramoy are carried out in the framework of a convention with the French Ministry of Ecological and Solidary Transition.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, LEESU (UMR MA 102) Université Paris-Est Créteil, Créteil Cedex, France

    Rachid Dris, Romain Tramoy, Soline Alligant, Johnny Gasperi & Bruno Tassin

  2. GERS-LEE, Université Gustave Eiffel, Bouguenais, France

    Johnny Gasperi

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  1. Rachid Dris
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  2. Romain Tramoy
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  3. Soline Alligant
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  4. Johnny Gasperi
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  5. Bruno Tassin
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Correspondence to Rachid Dris .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) and Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Teresa Rocha-Santos

  2. Departamento de Oceanografia, Laboratório de Ecologia e Gerenciamento de Ecossistemas Costeiros e Estuarinos, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil

    Monica F. Costa

  3. Faculty of Sciences, Université Catholique de L’Ouest, Angers cedex 01, France

    Catherine Mouneyrac

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Chemistry and Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    João Pinto da Costa

  2. CESAM and Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Armando C. Duarte

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Dris, R., Tramoy, R., Alligant, S., Gasperi, J., Tassin, B. (2022). Plastic Debris Flowing from Rivers to Oceans: The Role of the Estuaries as a Complex and Poorly Understood Key Interface. In: Rocha-Santos, T., Costa, M.F., Mouneyrac, C. (eds) Handbook of Microplastics in the Environment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39041-9_3

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