Phytoplankton Faced with Emergent Pollutants

Dear Colleagues,

Freshwater and marine environments are increasingly disturbed by the intensification of chemical products released by sewage treatment plants, which may pose serious health and ecological problems worldwide. Among these are ”emergent” pollutants including PFASs (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances), also known as “forever chemicals”; PPCPs (pharmaceuticals and personal care products); and nanoplastics for which research has been inconsistent and scarce especially on the first link of the food web—phytoplankton. Other threatening pollutants, i.e., radionuclides, may also be included, as few investigations have been conducted on their global distribution at the base of the food web.

Indeed, photosynthetic organisms (including cyanobacteria and microalgae) play a key role in the recycling of nutrients and pollutants, and are capable of various biological processes such as bioaccumulation, biotransformation, or bioremediation.

However, the extent to which these pollutants affect phytoplankton (in terms of biodiversity, dynamics, succession patterns, and/or functional imbalance) is not clear and needs further combined investigations.

Consequently, this Special Issue is open, but not limited, to recent advances in the detection and characterization of chemical pollutants and their various effects on phytoplankton species, from the molecular level to the community and ecological levels.

All papers including original research, critical reviews, short communications, or challenging questions in the field are particularly welcomed. 

Dr. Katia Comte
Dr. Stéphanie Fayolle
Guest Editors

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