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.

微塑料和纳米塑料（MNP）已成为世界各地普遍存在的污染物。MNP几乎存在于所有生态系统和环境介质中。它们很容易被生物体摄入，并在进入食物链时对人类和生态系统健康构成新的风险。每年有数百万吨的MNP被释放到海洋中。最近，在海洋大气边界层的空气样品中检测到塑料颗粒。然而，对控制从海洋向大气和其他环境分区和介质释放和转移MNP的过程和机制知之甚少。这个职业生涯项目将解决这些关键的知识差距。更具体地说，首席研究员建议进行一个综合实验和建模项目，以测试以下假设：1）MNP可以通过海洋/海浪破碎和气泡破裂被海水喷雾雾化并转移到大气中，2）MNP颗粒通过海水喷雾的雾化受到其大小，形状，年龄和成分的调节，（3）海雾MNP可以通过远距离大气迁移和沉积转移到其他环境隔室和介质中。该项目的成功完成将通过产生新的数据和知识来促进对海喷雾MNP在环境中的大气释放、运输和沉积的基本了解和量化，从而造福社会。通过学生教育和培训，包括指导弗吉尼亚理工大学的两名研究生和两名本科生，将进一步造福社会。一个广泛持有的假设是，海洋和海洋充当微纳米塑料（MNP）的准永久性汇;也就是说，进入海洋和海洋的塑料颗粒将在那里停留很长一段时间。然而，在海洋大气边界层空气样本中检测到的MNP表明，从海洋到大气的颗粒转移可能是塑料环境迁移和污染的一个重要途径，但却很少考虑。这个CAREER项目的首要目标是调查和量化MNP通过海上喷雾的气溶胶化及其在环境中的大气传输，沉积和积累。为了推进这一目标，首席研究员（PI）建议围绕四项研究任务开展综合实验和建模计划。任务1将研究在一个专门设计的气溶胶发生器罐中产生海雾MNP，以模拟通过海洋/海浪破碎和气泡破裂的颗粒形成，使用良好表征的塑料颗粒作为模型系统。任务2将评估和量化雾化MNP的粒径、形状、年龄和成分之间的关系。任务3将联合收割机结合任务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对其进行参数化。任务4将把任务3中的MNP表面通量模型与社区多尺度空气质量模型相结合，以模拟和量化相关环境分区和介质中海洋喷雾MNP气溶胶的传输和沉积。该项目的成功完成有可能通过产生新的基础知识，数据和建模工具来量化海洋喷雾MNP气溶胶的生成及其随后的运输，沉积和积累在环境中产生变革性影响。为了实现这个职业生涯项目的教育和培训目标，PI将与西弗吉尼亚州科学博物馆合作，创建一个公开展览，并进行实验，以展示使用PI的气溶胶生成罐的展览版本形成海洋喷雾气溶胶和海洋大气MNP。此外，PI计划与工程多样性增强中心（CEED）合作，为STEM中代表性不足的大学预科生开发夏令营培训模块。拟议的夏令营模块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的图像处理技术从PI的实验室表征气溶胶MNP。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。