Scientific Publications

From mercury to plastics: Earth system science and governance strategies

Back to Scientific Publications

September 2026, article in a peer-reviewed journal,
Article in a peer-reviewed journal

Dong Peng, Xinle Wang, Helene Angot, Michael S. Bank, Silvia Bucci, Hancheng Dai, Jianhua Gao and Roland Geyer, Xianda Gong, Gael Le Roux, Laurent C. M. Lebreton, Ting Lei, Daoji Li, Maodian Liu, Yurong Liu, Camille Richon, Amina Schartup, Huizhong Shen, Zhengcheng Song, Jeroen E. Sonke, Tim van Emmerik, Xuejun Wang, Peipei Wu, Qingru Wu, Xiang-Rong Xu, Xinyue Ye, Eddy Y. Zeng & Yanxu Zhang

  • Publication type: article in a peer-reviewed journal
  • Publication journal : npj Emerging Contaminants
  • Collaborators: School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China. School of Geography and Ocean Science, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Coastand Island Development, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China. College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Education Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, Peking University, Beijing, China. University of Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE, Grenoble, France. Institute of Marine Research, Bergen, Norway. University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA. University of Vienna, IMGW, Vienna, Austria. Università della Tuscia, DAFNE, Viterbo, Italy. College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China. Institute for Carbon Neutrality, Peking University, Beijing, China. Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA. Research Center for Industries of the Future,Westlake University, Hangzhou, China. Key Laboratory of Coastal Environment and Resources of Zhejiang Province, School of Engineering, Westlake University, Hangzhou, China. Laboratoire écologie fonctionnelle et environnement, CNRS/INP/ Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France. The Ocean Cleanup Foundation, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The Modelling House, Raglan, New Zealand. School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China. State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China. Region Training and Research Center on Plastic Marine Debris and Microplastics, IOCUNESCO, Shanghai, China. Hainan Research Institute of East China Normal University, Sanya, China. Institute of Carbon Neutrality, Peking University, Beijing, China. National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology and College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China. University Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, Laboratoire des Sciences de l’Environnement Marin (LEMAR), IUEM Rue Dumont d’Urville, Plouzané, France. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA. State Key Laboratory of Soil Pollution Control and Safety, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement and Early Warning Technology for Urban Environmental Health Risks, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, China. Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, CNRS, IRD, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France. Hydrology and Environmental Hydraulics Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands. State Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Sustainability, State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Sources and Control of Air Pollution Complex, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning, China. Department of Geography and the Environment & Alabama Geospatial AI and Information Science Hub, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA. Institute of Environmental Health, School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA. School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing
  • Publication date: September 2026
  • DOI: 10.1038/s44454-026-00056-y

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.