Insights on Ecotoxicological Effects of Microplastics in Marine Ecosystems: The EPHEMARE Project

Abstract

The Ephemare project was supported in the period 2015–2018 by JPI Oceans, as one of 4 sister projects in the joint action on ecological aspects of microplastics. Ephemare investigated several issues concerning the ecotoxicological effects of microplastics (MPs) in marine organisms. Ephemare included 16 European Institutions from 10 Countries and was organized into seven, highly complementary Work Packages (WPs) with the aim to elucidate adsorption and release of chemicals to/from MPs, coupled with MP ingestion rates, translocation in different tissues, trophic transfer and egestion, potential toxicological effects and mechanisms of action, as well as real distributions of MPs in marine organisms from several European areas.