CAREER: Micro- and Nanoplastics in Sea Spray: Emission, Transport, and Deposition in the Environment

职业：海浪中的微米和纳米塑料：环境中的排放、传输和沉积

• 批准号: 2145532
• 负责人: Hosein Foroutan
• 金额: $ 50.49万
• 依托单位: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-06-01 至 2027-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2145532&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Micro; Nanoplastics; Sea; Spray

Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) have become pervasive pollutants throughout the world. MNPs have been found virtually in all ecosystems and environmental media. They can be easily ingested by living organisms and pose new risks to human and ecosystem health as they enter the food chain. Every year millions of tons of MNPs are released into oceans and seas. Recently, plastic particles were detected in air samples from marine atmosphere boundary layers. However, little is known about the processes and mechanisms that control the release and transfer of MNPs from oceans and seas to the atmosphere and other environmental compartments and media. This CAREER project will address these critical knowledge gaps. More specifically, the Principal Investigator proposes to carry out an integrated experimental and modeling project to test the hypotheses that 1) MNPs can be aerosolized and transferred to the atmosphere by sea spray through ocean/sea wave breaking and bubble bursting, 2) the aerosolization of MNP particles via sea spray is modulated by their size, shape, age, and composition, and 3) sea spray MNPs can be transferred to other environmental compartments and media through long-range atmospheric transport and deposition. The successful completion of this project will benefit society through the generation of new data and knowledge to advance the fundamental understanding and quantification of the atmospheric release, transport, and deposition of sea spray MNPs in the environment. Further benefits to society will be achieved through student education and training including the mentoring of two graduate students and two undergraduate students at Virginia Tech.A widely held assumption is that oceans and seas act as quasi-permanent sinks for micro-nanoplastics (MNPs); that is plastic particles which enter oceans and seas will remain there for extended periods. However, the detection of MNPs in air samples from marine atmosphere boundary layers suggests that particle transfer from oceans and seas to the atmosphere might be an important and yet poorly accounted pathway for plastic environmental transport and pollution. The overarching goal of this CAREER project is to investigate and quantify the aerosolization of MNPs via sea spray and their atmospheric transport, deposition, and accumulation in the environment. To advance this goal, the Principal Investigator (PI) proposes to carry out an integrated experimental and modeling program organized around four research tasks. Task 1 will investigate the generation of sea spray MNPs in a specially designed aerosol generator tank to simulate particle formation via ocean/sea wave breaking and bubble bursting using well characterized plastic particles as model systems. Task 2 will evaluate and quantify the relationships between the flux of aerosolized MNPs and particle size, shape, age, and composition. Task 3 will combine the data generated in Tasks 1 and 2 to develop and parameterize a process model that could be used to estimate the surface flux of sea spray MNP aerosols. Task 4 will integrate the MNP surface flux model from Task 3 into the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model to simulate and quantify the transport and deposition of sea spray MNP aerosols in relevant environmental compartments and media. The successful completion of this project has the potential for transformative impact through the generation of new fundamental knowledge, data, and modeling tools to quantify the generation of sea spray MNP aerosols and their subsequent transport, deposition, and accumulation in the environment. To implement the education and training goals of this CAREER project, the PI will work with the Science Museum of Western Virginia to create a public exhibit with hand-on experiments to demonstrate the formation of sea spray aerosols and marine atmospheric MNPs using an exhibit version of the PI’s aerosol generation tank. In addition, the PI plans to partner with the Center for Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED) at Virgina Tech to develop a training module for summer camps for pre-college students who are underrepresented in STEM. The proposed summer camp module will include a hands-on experiment during which the students will learn how to characterize aerosolized MNPs from the PI’s lab using optical microscopy and related image processing techniques.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

微米和纳米塑料(MNPs)已经成为全世界普遍存在的污染物。事实上，在所有生态系统和环境介质中都发现了MNPs。当它们进入食物链时，它们很容易被活的有机体摄取，并对人类和生态系统健康构成新的风险。每年有数百万吨的MNPs被释放到海洋中。最近，在海洋大气边界层的空气样本中检测到塑料颗粒。然而，人们对控制海洋和海洋中的MNPs释放和转移到大气和其他环境隔间和介质的过程和机制知之甚少。这个职业项目将解决这些关键的知识差距。更具体地说，首席研究人员建议开展一项综合的实验和模拟项目，以检验以下假设：1)MNPs可以通过海浪破碎和气泡破裂通过海雾气溶胶转移到大气中；2)MNP粒子通过海雾气雾化受到其大小、形状、年龄和组成的调节；以及3)海雾MNPs可以通过远程大气传输和沉积转移到其他环境空间和介质中。该项目的成功完成将通过产生新的数据和知识来促进对大气中海洋喷雾MNPs在环境中的释放、运输和沉积的基本了解和量化，从而使社会受益。学生教育和培训将进一步造福社会，包括指导弗吉尼亚理工大学的两名研究生和两名本科生。一个普遍的假设是，海洋充当微纳米塑料(MNP)的准永久汇；也就是说，进入海洋的塑料颗粒将在那里停留较长时间。然而，海洋大气边界层空气样品中MNPs的检测表明，颗粒物从海洋到大气的转移可能是塑料环境迁移和污染的一个重要但尚未得到充分解释的途径。这一职业项目的总体目标是调查和量化通过海雾对MNPs的气雾化以及它们在环境中的大气传输、沉积和积累。为了推进这一目标，首席调查员(PI)建议围绕四项研究任务开展一项综合实验和建模计划。任务1将研究在一个特殊设计的气溶胶发生器储罐中产生海雾MNPs，以良好特性的塑料颗粒作为模型系统，模拟通过海洋/海浪破碎和气泡破裂形成的颗粒。任务2将评估和量化雾化MNPs的flUX与颗粒大小、形状、年龄和成分之间的关系。任务3将结合任务1和任务2中产生的数据，开发一个可用于估计海洋喷雾MNP气溶胶表面通量的过程模型，并将其参数化。任务4将把任务3中的MNP表面通量模型整合到社区多尺度空气质量(CMAQ)模型中，以模拟和量化海雾MNP气溶胶在相关环境隔间和介质中的传输和沉积。该项目的成功完成有可能通过产生新的基本知识、数据和模拟工具来量化海洋喷雾MNP气溶胶的产生及其随后在环境中的传输、沉积和积累，从而产生变革性的影响。为了实现这一职业项目的教育和培训目标，国际和平协会将与西弗吉尼亚州科学博物馆合作创建一个公共展览，通过动手实验来演示使用国际和平组织的气溶胶产生罐的展览版来演示海雾气溶胶和海洋大气MNPs的形成。此外，PI计划与弗吉尼亚理工大学工程多样性促进中心(CEED)合作，为STEM中代表性不足的大学预科学生开发夏令营培训模块。拟议的夏令营单元将包括一个动手实验，在此期间，学生将学习如何使用光学显微镜和相关图像处理技术来表征PI实验室中的气雾化MNPs。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。