CAREER: An Investigation of Microplastics Fate and Contaminant Transport in Storm Runoff, The Nexus of Environmental Engineering and Material Sciences

职业：风暴径流中微塑料的归宿和污染物输送的研究，环境工程和材料科学的联系

• 批准号: 2305189
• 负责人: Maryam Salehi
• 金额: $ 54.21万
• 依托单位: University of Missouri-Columbia
• 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: 2022-10-01 至 2026-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2305189&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Investigation; Microplastics; Fate; Contaminant

The use of plastics in consumer products and materials results in the release of small particles of plastic known as “microplastics” that can pollute the environment. These microplastics are persistent in the environment and will typically take hundreds of years to decompose completely. Microplastics can be transported through water, air, and through the food web following ingestion and uptake by animals and other organisms. In addition, microplastics can also absorb toxic pollutants, causing them to spread further and faster in the environment, including the world’s oceans. Although a majority of microplastics in marine environments originate from inland sources, the relative importance of microplastic pollutants released in urban storm runoff to surface waters is still poorly understood. The goal of this CAREER project is to close the critical knowledge gap on the environmental degradation of microplastics and how they facilitate the transport of heavy metals in urban stormwater. Successful completion of this research will greatly advance our understanding of microplastic sources in urban environments and how they mobilize heavy metals. Such knowledge will greatly aid the development of effective stormwater management strategies. Additional benefits to society will result from advancing scientific literacy and improving the Nation’s STEM workforce through the development of educational materials for K-12 teachers to educate their students on plastic pollution and inspire them to pursue careers in environmental engineering and science.The goal of this CAREER project is to utilize material science and environmental engineering interdisciplinary research to understand processes controlling the fate and transport of microplastics in urban stormwater. This will be achieved through the specific research objectives to elucidate the roles that intrinsic and extrinsic material properties play in influencing the kinetics of microplastic photodegradation and particle fragmentation, and examine how aqueous physiochemical processes impact microplastic facilitated transport of heavy metals present in stormwater. The fundamental knowledge developed in this research will provide a better conceptual understanding of the mechanisms controlling microplastics persistence and contaminant transport within the urban environment, which is crucial to estimating their negative impacts on the ecosystem and developing effective control measures and remediation strategies. This investigation represents one of the first efforts to develop a comprehensive mechanistic understanding of the physical and chemical processes that control microplastic fate and contaminant transport in stormwater. A key novelty of the proposed research addresses the mismatch between laboratory experiments that generally use virgin plastic pellets and beads by using environmentally relevant degraded secondary microplastics generated through the disintegration of larger plastic segments. This approach using microplastic fragmentation under abrasive tension will facilitate the development of dynamic models to predict microplastics disintegration under various mechanical loadings and physical conditions. The integrated educational plan will benefit society by providing professional development for K-12 educators through annual workshops to increase the recruitment of underrepresented students into environmental engineering. Additional benefits will result from dissemination of results to inform water managers, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders in Tennessee on the presence of microplastics in stormwater, and ways to combat the problem.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.

在消费品和材料中使用塑料会释放出被称为“微塑料”的小塑料颗粒，这些塑料颗粒会污染环境。这些微塑料在环境中是持久性的，通常需要数百年才能完全分解。微塑料可以通过水、空气以及被动物和其他生物摄入和吸收后通过食物网传播。此外，微塑料还可以吸收有毒污染物，使它们在环境中传播得更远更快，包括世界海洋。尽管海洋环境中的大多数微塑料来自内陆，但人们对城市暴雨径流向地表水释放的微塑料污染物的相对重要性仍然知之甚少。这个CAREER项目的目标是缩小关于微塑料的环境退化以及它们如何促进城市雨水中重金属的运输的关键知识差距。这项研究的成功完成将极大地促进我们对城市环境中微塑料来源及其如何调动重金属的理解。这些知识将极大地有助于制定有效的雨水管理战略。通过为K-12教师开发教育材料，教育学生有关塑料污染的知识，并激励他们从事环境工程和科学方面的职业，提高科学素养和改善国家的STEM劳动力，将为社会带来额外的好处。CAREER项目的目标是利用材料科学和环境工程跨学科研究来了解控制城市雨水中微塑料的命运和运输的过程。这将通过具体的研究目标来实现，阐明材料的内在和外在特性在影响微塑料光降解和颗粒破碎动力学中的作用，并研究水物理化学过程如何影响微塑料促进雨水中重金属的运输。本研究建立的基础知识将有助于更好地理解城市环境中微塑料持久性和污染物迁移的控制机制，这对于评估其对生态系统的负面影响以及制定有效的控制措施和补救策略至关重要。这项研究代表了对控制雨水中微塑料命运和污染物运输的物理和化学过程进行全面机制理解的第一次努力之一。拟议研究的一个关键新颖之处是解决了实验室实验之间的不匹配问题，实验室实验通常使用原生塑料颗粒和珠子，使用与环境相关的降解次级微塑料，这些微塑料是通过分解较大的塑料段产生的。这种利用磨料张力作用下微塑料破碎的方法将有助于建立动态模型来预测各种机械载荷和物理条件下微塑料的破碎。这项综合教育计划将通过每年举办研讨会，为K-12教育工作者提供专业发展，以增加环境工程专业中代表性不足的学生的招聘，从而造福社会。通过传播研究结果，让田纳西州的水资源管理者、从业者、政策制定者和其他利益相关者了解雨水中存在的微塑料，以及解决这一问题的方法，还能带来额外的好处。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Plastic litter fate and contaminant transport within the urban environment, photodegradation, fragmentation, and heavy metal uptake from storm runoff

城市环境中的塑料垃圾归宿和污染物迁移、光降解、破碎以及风暴径流中的重金属吸收

• DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.113183
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Environmental Research
• 影响因子: 8.3
• 作者: Hadiuzzaman, Md;Salehi, Maryam;Fujiwara, Tomoko
• 通讯作者: Fujiwara, Tomoko

Insights into the mechanism of plastics’ fragmentation under abrasive mechanical forces: An implication for agricultural soil health

深入了解机械磨损力下塑料破碎的机制：对农业土壤健康的影响

• DOI: 10.1002/clen.202200395
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Water
• 影响因子: 3.4
• 作者: Bhattacharjee, Linkon;Jazaei, Farhad;Salehi, Maryam
• 通讯作者: Salehi, Maryam

Investigating the sustainability of agricultural plastic products, combined influence of polymer characteristics and environmental conditions on microplastics aging

• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156385
• 发表时间: 2022-06-06
• 期刊: SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
• 影响因子: 9.8
• 作者: Bonyadinejad, Gholamreza;Salehi, Maryam;Herath, Amali
• 通讯作者: Herath, Amali