Development of the first global standard for airborne microplastic monitoring.

制定第一个空气微塑料监测全球标准。

• 批准号: NE/X010201/1
• 负责人: Jeanette Rotchell
• 金额: $ 10.26万
• 依托单位: University of Hull
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FX010201%2F1
• 关键词: Development; first; global; standard; airborne

Microplastics (MPs) have been found in virtually all environments: soil, living things, water and air. The past five years have included a small number of investigations over long time scales (up to a year for some) and across wide ranging locations. One common finding is that MP numbers and types vary greatly in different environments. There is now concern regarding the possible impacts of MPs in terms of public and other organism health. MPs are of the size range range of 1 micron to 5 mm, which ranges from the size of a small bacterium to a sesame seed at most, inhalable, and common in food chains/diet. They come in different shapes and polymer types, depending on the plastics that are derived from eg. polyester or polypropylene, which are common in textiles or packaging. Recently, they have been identified inside people's lungs, blood and bowels, and questions arise as to whether they cause or exacerbate lung or bowel conditions like chronic cough or irritable bowel disease. In marine organisms they are also associated with growth and inflammation type impacts. Current air quality measures and monitoring completely overlook this contaminant type, which is likely to become a public health issue. Current measurements of the types of particles and gases in routine air monitoring also fail to completely explain high levels of specific cough and inflammation type disease incidences in many cities. This study firstly aims to establish a means to measure MPs in the air, which would represent a new air quality measure methodology. The approach we suggest 'slip streams' the current pollen monitoring methods available worldwide, making it accessible for those who do not have access to specialist and expensive equipment. The method proposed does however have certain robust elements included and these are to ensure that the agencies who conduct air quality measurements can use the data produced.The second aspect of this work is to develop an automated identification and counting technology approach so that the monitoring can be completed in future using low cost, non-specialist equipment and expertise. Ideally, the method will be available for reliable and reproducible use around the world. This will be achieved by a combination of manipulation of existing available datasets on MPs found in the air (from our past three years of studies), and trials with colleagues located across four continents who work with different pollen sampling approaches. One novel approach we will use will be to make a set of MP 'reference strips' that can be posted to users and used an as internal calibration when taking images for analysis. There are parallels between established pollen monitoring and trying to set up something similar for MPs, that we can exploit. Pollen come in a comparable range of shapes and sizes (ranging from 5-100+ microns) to MPs. They are a trigger for health impacts and, as such, are routinely and robustly monitored such that datasets can be shared and compared internationally as well as communicated to the public. The same parameters can apply for MPs. The second aspect, the auto-identification and counting would represent a significant step forward for both pollen and MP monitoring, that could see wider benefits still. The trials we conduct will run in parallel with the current practice for MP sampling, to add further cross comparison but also to anchor any new approach to what is currently deemed as acceptable in the wider community of research scientists working in this area.

微塑料（MP）几乎存在于所有环境中：土壤、生物、水和空气。在过去五年中，进行了为数不多的长时间调查（有些调查长达一年），调查地点广泛。一个共同的发现是，MP的数量和类型在不同的环境中变化很大。现在人们担心议员对公众和其他生物健康可能产生的影响。MP的大小范围为1微米至5毫米，其大小范围从小细菌到最多芝麻籽，可吸入，并且在食物链/饮食中常见。它们有不同的形状和聚合物类型，这取决于来自例如的塑料。聚酯或聚丙烯，它们在纺织品或包装中很常见。最近，它们已经在人们的肺部，血液和肠道中被发现，并且人们开始质疑它们是否会导致或加剧肺部或肠道疾病，如慢性咳嗽或肠易激综合征。在海洋生物中，它们也与生长和炎症类型的影响有关。目前的空气质量措施和监测完全忽略了这种污染物类型，这可能成为一个公共健康问题。目前在常规空气监测中对颗粒物和气体类型的测量也未能完全解释许多城市中高水平的特异性咳嗽和炎症类型疾病的发病率。本研究的目的首先是建立一种测量空气中MP的方法，这将代表一种新的空气质量测量方法。我们建议的方法是“滑流”目前全球可用的花粉监测方法，使那些无法获得专业和昂贵设备的人能够使用。这项工作的第二方面，是发展一套自动识别和计算的技术方法，以便日后可以使用低成本、非专门的仪器和专门知识，完成监测工作。理想情况下，该方法将可在世界各地可靠和可重复使用。这将通过对空气中发现的MP的现有可用数据集（来自我们过去三年的研究）的操作，以及与四大洲使用不同花粉采样方法的同事进行的试验来实现。我们将使用的一种新方法是制作一组MP“参考条”，可以发布给用户，并在拍摄图像进行分析时用作内部校准。在建立花粉监测和试图为国会议员建立类似的东西之间有相似之处，我们可以利用。花粉的形状和大小（范围从5-100+微米）与MP相当。它们是健康影响的触发因素，因此受到常规和有力的监测，以便数据集可以在国际上共享和比较，并向公众通报。同样的参数也适用于MP。第二个方面，自动识别和计数将代表花粉和MP监测的重要一步，可以看到更广泛的好处。我们进行的试验将与MP抽样的现行做法平行进行，以增加进一步的交叉比较，但也锚任何新的方法，目前被认为是可接受的，在更广泛的社区研究科学家在这一领域工作。