From mercury to plastics: Earth system science and governance strategies
Abstract
Mercury and plastics are emblematic pollutants of the Anthropocene. Despite differences in material properties, transformations, and exposure pathways, they share features in cross-compartment transport and long-term persistence. Drawing on decades of research and the Minamata Convention, mercury science has established coordinated observations, source inventories, and mass-balance models. Here, we assess how elements of this infrastructure can inform plastic pollution research by comparing source–transport–sink dynamics and identifying where mercury-based approaches are suitable for adaptation. We argue that socioeconomic analysis should be integrated with Earth system modeling to trace plastic fluxes from human technospheres to environmental sinks. Priorities include harmonized methods, sustained observations, transparent release inventories, and models that evaluate policy effects on sources, transport, transformation, exposure, and accumulation. This comparison is methodological, not mechanistic, and supports a science–policy interface for plastics governance.
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BibTeX
@article{peng2026from,
title = {{From mercury to plastics: Earth system science and governance strategies}},
author = {Dong Peng and Xinle Wang and Hélène Angot and Michael Bank and Silvia Bucci and Hancheng Dai and Jianhua Gao and Roland Geyer and Xianda Gong and Gael Le Roux and Laurent Lebreton and Ting Lei and Daoji Li and Maodian Liu and Yurong Liu and Camille Richon and Amina Schartup and Huizhong Shen and Zhengcheng Song and Jeroen Sonke and Tim van Emmerik and Xuejun Wang and Peipei Wu and Qingru Wu and Xiang-Rong Xu and Xinyue Ye and Eddy Zeng and Yanxu Zhang},
journal = {npj Emerging Contaminants},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1038/s44454-026-00056-y},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05738274v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - From mercury to plastics: Earth system science and governance strategies
AU - Dong Peng
AU - Xinle Wang
AU - Hélène Angot
AU - Michael Bank
AU - Silvia Bucci
AU - Hancheng Dai
AU - Jianhua Gao
AU - Roland Geyer
AU - Xianda Gong
AU - Gael Le Roux
AU - Laurent Lebreton
AU - Ting Lei
AU - Daoji Li
AU - Maodian Liu
AU - Yurong Liu
AU - Camille Richon
AU - Amina Schartup
AU - Huizhong Shen
AU - Zhengcheng Song
AU - Jeroen Sonke
AU - Tim van Emmerik
AU - Xuejun Wang
AU - Peipei Wu
AU - Qingru Wu
AU - Xiang-Rong Xu
AU - Xinyue Ye
AU - Eddy Zeng
AU - Yanxu Zhang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/04
JO - npj Emerging Contaminants
DO - 10.1038/s44454-026-00056-y
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05738274v1
AB - Mercury and plastics are emblematic pollutants of the Anthropocene. Despite differences in material properties, transformations, and exposure pathways, they share features in cross-compartment transport and long-term persistence. Drawing on decades of research and the Minamata Convention, mercury science has established coordinated observations, source inventories, and mass-balance models. Here, we assess how elements of this infrastructure can inform plastic pollution research by comparing source–transport–sink dynamics and identifying where mercury-based approaches are suitable for adaptation. We argue that socioeconomic analysis should be integrated with Earth system modeling to trace plastic fluxes from human technospheres to environmental sinks. Priorities include harmonized methods, sustained observations, transparent release inventories, and models that evaluate policy effects on sources, transport, transformation, exposure, and accumulation. This comparison is methodological, not mechanistic, and supports a science–policy interface for plastics governance.
SN - 3059-3719
ER -