# Toward a sociological approach of emerging pollutants (microplastics, PFASs) presences in the Alps

Stéphane Marpot

► To cite this version:

Stéphane Marpot. Toward a sociological approach of emerging pollutants (microplastics, PFASs) presences in the Alps. SETAC Europe Annual Meeting 35th, May 2025, Vienne, Austria. 2025. [hal-05126489](https://hal.science/hal-05126489v1)

HAL Id: hal-05126489

https://hal.science/hal-05126489v1

Submitted on 23 Jun 2025

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access
archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci-
entific research documents, whether they are pub-
lished or not. The documents may come from
teaching and research institutions in France or
abroad, or from public or private research centers.

L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est
destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents
scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non,
émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de
recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires
publics ou privés.

<figure><img src="image_1.png" /></figure>

Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
# TOWARD A SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH OF EMERGING POLLUTANTS (MICROPLASTICS, PFASs) PRESENCES IN MOUNTAIN AREAS

Stéphane Marpot¹

¹EDYTEM Laboratory, University Savoie Mont-Blanc, Chambéry, France

<figure><img src="image_2.png" /></figure>

stephane.marpot@gmail.com
stephane.marpot@univ-smb.fr

## INTRODUCTION

This study questions the historical and social constitution of emerging pollutants - microplastics (MPs) and poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) - as objects of scientific research in the Alps, i.e. how they have been put on the agenda of environmental sciences, or not, and how in return research contribute to specifying their presences. At the crossroads of Science and Technology Studies and qualitative environmental sociology, this research focuses on the circulations and presence of these pollutants within mountainous areas. It aims to identify the knowledge produced and the scientific practices used to study these pollutants described as persistent in the context of climate transition. This poster presents the preliminary results of this sociological inquiry.

## METHODS

<figure><img src="image_3.png" /></figure>

Based on a survey combining bibliographic research, sociological interviews (n=20) and ethnographic fieldwork (conferences, scientist's lab-life and fieldwork), the objective of this study is (i) to reconstruct the sociohistorical context of the scientific management of persistent pollutants, particularly in the Alpine region, and (ii) to question *in situ* how environmental science researchers respond to the environmental and health issues represented by PFAS and microplastics.

<figure><img src="image_4.png" /></figure>

## PFASs

* Mountain PFAS studies context: 1st PFAS effective regulation and chemicals as part of inhabit world.

* In science papers, PFASs are connected to US history.

* In sociology, PFAS knowledge was (I) a selective production of ignorance¹, then (II) areas of unseen science (enclosed inside institutional boundaries).

* The US PFAS affair constitutes a “toxic event”², a way for PFAS invisible pollution to become perceptible and public.

## MICROPLASTICS

* Unlike PFASs, MPs appear as an environmental issue before an health issue. MPs timeline is embedded in the history of plastic contamination.

* The knowledge production is (I) less conflictual than PFAS, (II) follows the cycle water path from the sea to the summit.

* Less controversy, often qualified as “invisible wastes”, MPs can be understood as “residues” perceptible by accretion.

<figure><img src="image_5.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_6.png" /></figure>

## MAPPING OF MP AND PFAS RESEARCH

* The data were collected by systematic literature review through Google Scholar, Web Of Science, BibCNRS and Scopus with prompts:

* ("PFAS") AND ("mountains" OR "mountain") AND "Alps" AND ("presence" OR "contamination" OR "transfert") (select for map: n=17)

* ("microplastics" OR "microplastic") AND ("mountains" OR "mountain") AND ("presence" OR "contamination" OR "transfert") AND "Alps" (select for map n=38)

* PFAS studies collected were mainly about PFOS, PFOA and PFBA.

* These research implied a multi-scale geography of MPs/PFASs: bodies, ecosystem transfert, sites comparisons from sea to summit, watershed circulation, etc.

* This map does not reveal: social and environmental inequalities, environmental distribution of pollutant and even geographic distribution of scientific activities³. However, the latter build and constraint these studies.

* High-altitude sampling campaigns imply three major constraints: environmental accessibility, researchers abilities and technology transportability (for PFASs more than MPs).

* In scientific papers, mountainous areas are expressed as:

* Remote areas: witness of long-range transports and pollution archive

* Pristine natural sites impacted by anthropogenic (industrial and tourism) activities

* Open air labs for study climate change effects and risks

* Beneath these mountain conceptions we can find three fundamental processes shaping PFASs and MPs presences⁴ :

* Legacy: based on persistency, unruly and slippery; industrialisation residues

* Accretion: spread and accumulation of pollutants; invisible mobility

* Apprehension: chemicals uncertainty in nature imply both a need to make sense and an affective response

<figure><img src="image_7.png" /></figure>

* By comparison, PFAS studies began before those on MP but the first are globally less studied than the second over the years.

* Between 2022 and 2024, according to papers, fieldworks in mountainous areas seems to slowdown. Since 2022, Reviews publishing increased each year.

* The two only studies concerning human exposure are not directly related to mountains. They focus on pro skiers exposure to PFAS contained in ski wax.

* Standardisation of methods keep being a problematic aspect underlined by researchers in both cases.

* Water samples are the most analysed. It translates both actual technical capacities and health concerns.

* The diversity and the disparities of matrix and samples studied reflect technical innovations and difficulties.

* Source, transport, transfert, deposition are not neutral: they refers to logistic semantic field. To think together material and social aspects of chemical residues, sociologists⁴ alternatively propose 5 properties: irreversibility, materiality, slippery, unruly, unwantedness.

<figure><img src="image_8.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_9.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_10.png" /></figure>

## PERSPECTIVES

* Easier to make visible, MPs are often qualified as wastes. In contrast, PFASs imply more complex and versatile perceptions depending to which social actors your refer. This diversity will be explored more deeply.

* When asked about research drivers, scientists talk about a «buzz effect» to point public and media effect on scientific activities. The topic will be analysed in the next months based on grey literature and mass-media production already collected.

* Fieldworks and interviews highlight the significant influence of NGOs in multiple Alpine research on PFASs and MPs. Few key actors will be interviewed to understand how they contribute in terms of political economy of science.

* Academic knowledge production and scientific activities will be compared with those of citizen sciences.

REFERENCES

<figure><img src="image_11.png" /></figure>