Ludovic Hermabessiere

University of Toronto | U of T · Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Understanding microplastic exposure and effects is critical to understanding risk. Here, we used large, in-lake closed-bottom mesocosms to investigate exposure and effects on pelagic freshwater ecosystems. This article provides details about the experimental design and results on the transport of microplastics and exposure to pelagic organisms. Our...

Marine mammals consume large quantities of microplastic particles, likely via trophic transfer (i.e., through prey who have consumed plastic) and direct consumption from seawater or sediment. Microplastics have been found in the stomachs, gastro-intestinal tracts, and feces of cetaceans and pinnipeds. Translocation of ingested microplastics has bee...

There is definitive evidence that microplastics, defined as plastic particles less than 5 mm in size, are ubiquitous in the environment and can cause harm to aquatic organisms. These findings have prompted legislators and environmental regulators to seek out strategies for managing risk. However, microplastics are also an incredibly diverse contami...

To assess the potential risk of microplastic exposure to humans and aquatic ecosystems, reliable toxicity data is needed. This includes a more complete foundational understanding of microplastic toxicity and better characterization of the hazards they may present. To expand this understanding, an international group of experts was convened in 2020–...

Throughout the past decade, many studies have reported adverse effects in biota following microplastic exposure. Yet, the field is still emerging as the current understanding of microplastic toxicity is limited. At the same time, recent legislative mandates have required environmental regulators to devise strategies to mitigate microplastic polluti...

Microplastics have been documented in drinking water, but their effects on human health from ingestion, or the concentrations at which those effects begin to manifest, are not established. Here, we report on the outcome of a virtual expert workshop conducted between October 2020 and October 2021 in which a comprehensive review of mammalian hazard s...

This study examines the removal of microplastics and other anthropogenic particles (>10 μm) from surface water by a full-scale conventional drinking water treatment plant. The treatment process is composed of coagulation with aluminum hydroxide, flocculation, anthracite-sand filtration, and chlorination. Samples were also collected from pilot-scale...

Microplastics (MP) are now recognized as a persistent and global pollutant. To quantitively measure MPs in environmental matrices, several techniques are used – including new methods using Pyrolysis‐Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry. In this study, a new extraction method using Microwave‐Assisted Extraction (MAE) combined with Py‐GC/MS was devel...

Plastic pollution is a source of chemical to the environment and wildlife. Despite the ubiquity of plastic pollution and thus plastic additive in the environment, plastic additives have been studied to a limited extend. As a prerequisite to a study aiming to evaluate the leaching of a common additive used as an antioxidant (Irgafos® 168) from polye...

Microplastic research is a rapidly developing field, with urgent needs for high throughput and automated analysis techniques. We conducted a review covering image analysis from optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, and spectral analysis from Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, py...

The ubiquitous pollution of the environment with microplastics, a diverse suite of contaminants, is of growing concern for science and currently receives considerable public, political, and academic attention. The potential impact of microplastics in the environment has prompted a great deal of research in recent years. Many diverse methods have be...

Automation and subsampling have been proposed as solutions to reduce the time required to quantify and characterize microplastics in samples using spectroscopy. However, there are methodological dilemmas associated with automation that are preventing its widespread implementation including ensuring particles stay adhered to the filter during filter...

Estuaries serve as nursery grounds for many marine fish species. However, increasing human activities within estuaries and surrounding areas lead to significant habitat quality degradation for the juveniles. In recent years, plastic pollution has become a global environmental issue as plastic debris are found in all aquatic environments with potent...

The present work was carried out to quantify microplastics (MP) from three sandy beaches along the Côte d’Opale coastline located in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. Three different study sites located along the English Channel were investigated due to different levels of anthropopression and hydrodynamic conditions. Sediments were co...

For seventy years, mass plastic production and waste mismanagement have resulted in huge pollution of the environment, including the marine environment. The first mention of seafood contaminated by microplastics was recorded in the seventies, and to date numerous studies have been carried out on shellfish, fish and crustaceans. Based on an ad hoc c...

Nowadays, environmental pollution by microplastics (<5 mm; MP)is a major issue. MP are contaminating marine organisms consumed by humans. This work studied MP contamination in two bivalve species of commercial interest: blue mussel (Mytilus edulis)and common cockle (Cerastoderma edule)sampled on the Channel coastlines (France). In parallel, 13 plas...

L'augmentation de la production de matière plastique depuis les années 1950 combinée à une mauvaise gestion des déchets plastiques ainsi qu'aux mauvais comportements des citoyens conduit à la contamination des écosystèmes terrestres comme marins. L'ingestion par des organismes marins de particules plastiques mesurant moins de 5 mm, appelées micropl...

As other filter-feeders, Crassostrea gigas can concentrate paralytic shellfish toxins (PST) by consuming dinoflagellate phytoplankton species like Alexandrium minutum. Intake of PST in oyster tissues mainly results from feeding processes, i.e. clearance rate, pre-ingestive sorting and ingestion that are directly influenced by environmental conditio...

Plastics are found to be major debris composing the marine litter, microplastics (MP, <5 mm) being found in all marine compartments. Microplastics number tends to increase with decreasing size leading to a potential misidentification when only visual identification is performed. These last years, pyrolysis coupled with gas chromatography/mass spect...

Stable isotope composition of the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica was characterized from three estuaries in the Ten Thousand Islands (Florida). Freshwater in flow from watershed management is affecting this region and has deeply modified the salinity gradient. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes were used to trace specific sources of organic m...

Plastics debris, especially microplastics, have been found worldwide in all marine compartments. Much research has been carried out on adsorbed pollutants on plastic pieces and hydrophobic organic compounds (HOC) associated with microplastics. However, only a few studies have focused on plastic additives. These chemicals are incorporated into plast...

Recently, plastic pollution has gained a large interest among the scientific community. Indeed plastic are found to be the major debris found in marine litter. Moreover, ingestion of microplastics particles (<5 mm) by numerous seafood products including multiples species of fish and bivalve, has gained in importance. Therefore, microplastics can re...

Marine litter consists in 60 to 80% of plastics including microplastics, usually defined as particles with a size below 5 mm. Microplastics now constitute a major worldwide concern with physical and chemical threats relative to adsorbed persistent organic pollutants or plastic additives such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), bisphenol A or...

The pollution of the oceans by microplastics (< 5mm) is a worldwide challenge, and they have been recovered from several marine vertebrates and invertebrates. From an ecotoxicological point of view, the ingestion of microplastics by a wide range of marine organisms leads to substantial impacts on major physiological functions. More specifically, co...

Pollution of the oceans by microplastics (<5 mm) represents a major environmental problem. To date, a limited number of studies have investigated the level of contamination of marine organisms collected in situ. For extraction and characterization of microplastics in biological samples, the crucial step is the identification of solvent(s) or chemic...

This study investigated the effect of gametogenesis pattern and sex on levels of paralytic shellfish toxins (PST) accumulated by triploid oysters Crassostrea gigas exposed to a natural bloom of the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium minutum in the Bay of Brest (Western Brittany, France), over the summer 2014. Toxin accumulation in oysters was propose...

Our planet is changing, and one of the most pressing challenges facing the scientific community revolves around understanding how ecological communities respond to global changes. From coastal to deep-sea ecosystems, ecol-ogists are exploring new areas of research to find model organisms that help predict the future of life on our planet. Among the...