Policy brief - Plastic pollution and the plastisphere: findings and recommendations

This policy brief aims to share the main findings of the JPI Oceans funded 'MicroplastiX' project, which focussed on the relantioship between microplastics and the plastisphere. The plastisphere is a biofilm layer growing in the surface of plastics and microplastics, and it has consequences on (1) the adsorption of organic and inorganic pollutants, (2) plastic density (important for modelling), (3) the genetic diversity of species attached to and growing in the surface of the plastics. The project also explored how the plastisphere causes spectral changes that hinder plastic identification.  The policy brief was written and peer-reviewed within the team, being written in a way where complex scientific results were translated into acessible language.