Plastic additives: challenges in ecotox hazard assessment

Andrew Barrick; Olivier Champeau; Amélie Chatel; Nicolas Manier; Grant Northcott; Louis A Tremblay

doi:10.7717/peerj.11300

Plastic additives: challenges in ecotox hazard assessment

PeerJ. 2021 Apr 16:9:e11300. doi: 10.7717/peerj.11300. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Andrew Barrick¹, Olivier Champeau¹, Amélie Chatel², Nicolas Manier³, Grant Northcott⁴, Louis A Tremblay^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Cawthron Institute, Nelson, New Zealand.
² Université Catholique de l' Ouest, Angers, France.
³ French National Institute for Industrial Environment and Risks, Verneuil en Halatte, France.
⁴ Northcott Research Consultants, Hamilton, New Zealand.
⁵ University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

Abstract

The risk of plastic debris, and specifically micro(nano)plastic particles, to ecosystems remains to be fully characterized. One particular issue that warrants further characterization is the hazards associated with chemical additives within micro(nano)plastic as they are not chemically bound within the polymers and can be persistent and biologically active. Most plastics contain additives and are therefore potential vectors for the introduction of these chemicals into the environment as they leach from plastic, a process that can be accelerated through degradation and weathering processes. There are knowledge gaps on the ecotoxicological effects of plastic additives and how they are released from parent plastic materials as they progressively fragment from the meso to micro and nano scale. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge of the ecotoxicity of plastic additives and identifies research needs to characterize the hazard they present to exposed biota. The potential ecological risk of chemical additives is of international concern so key differences in governance between the European Union and New Zealand to appropriately characterize their risk are highlighted.

Keywords: Additives; Chemical functions; Emerging contaminants; Multiple stressors; Plastic fragmentation; micro(nano)plastics.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the NZ Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment Endeavour grants Aotearoa Impacts and Mitigation of Microplastics (AIM2) (contract no C03X1802) and Managing the Risk of Emerging Contaminants (contract no CAWX1708). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.