Emission of greenhouse gases and volatile organic compounds from environmental plastic degradation

环境塑料降解造成的温室气体和挥发性有机化合物的排放

• 批准号: 2275527
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of York
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2019 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2275527
• 关键词: Emission; greenhouse; gases; volatile; organic

Background: Humans produce increasingly large amounts of plastics for food storage, textiles, construction and other purposes. These artificial polymer substances, which have been long assumed to be relatively inert chemically, release toxic chemicals to the environment. Recent evidence indicates that plastics when exposed to light, temperature, or microbial organisms transform into various organic products ranging in volatility. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) emitted from plastic, but its source strength from degradation of different types of polymers has not yet been measured comprehensively. Other volatile molecules such as monomers of plastics (e.g. ethylene, styrene, etc.) are emitted along with impurities or compounds used in the manufacture process, and are further oxidized in reaction with oxidants such as ozone, OH, or NO3. Little is known on the quantity and impact ofmicroplastics released to the atmosphere. It is critical to understand the chemical composition and emission rates of these potentially harmful speciesand how environmental change and projected plastic production could affectVOC composition and concentrations in the future. Objectives: (i) To conduct novel measurements of GHG, VOC and SVOC from various plastics under different experimental conditions (ii) To gain further insight into source apportionment of GHGs using VOC/SVOC as tracers (iii) to quantify how this might change in the future Novelty: This is a unique opportunity to use emerging experimental techniques, such as PTRQiTOFMS, to understand the chemistry from plastic degradation, and environmental and health impacts from released chemicals.Timeliness: Emissions of a wide suite of chemicals from plastics are expected to increase in the future due to increasing production but also due to changes in temperature. With increasing awareness of the society of the harmful impacts from plastic degradation it is possible that efforts will be taken to reduce accumulation of plastics in our environment.

背景：人类生产越来越多的塑料用于食品储存，纺织品，建筑和其他目的。这些人造聚合物物质，长期以来一直被认为是相对惰性的化学物质，释放有毒化学物质到环境中。最近的证据表明，塑料在暴露于光、温度或微生物时会转化为各种挥发性有机产品。甲烷是塑料排放的一种强有力的温室气体（GHG），但其来自不同类型聚合物降解的源强度尚未得到全面测量。其他挥发性分子，如塑料单体（如乙烯、苯乙烯等）与制造过程中使用的杂质或化合物一起沿着排放，并在与氧化剂如臭氧、OH或NO3的反应中被进一步氧化。人们对释放到大气中的微塑料的数量和影响知之甚少。了解这些潜在有害物质的化学成分和排放率以及环境变化和预计的塑料生产如何影响未来的VOC成分和浓度至关重要。目的：（i）在不同的实验条件下对各种塑料的温室气体、挥发性有机化合物和SVOC进行新的测量（ii）使用挥发性有机化合物/SVOC作为示踪剂进一步了解温室气体的源解析（iii）量化这在未来可能发生的变化新奇：这是一个独特的机会，使用新兴的实验技术，如PTRQiTOFMS，了解塑料降解的化学，时间性：由于产量增加以及温度变化，预计未来塑料中各种化学品的排放量将增加。随着社会对塑料降解的有害影响的认识不断提高，有可能采取措施减少塑料在我们环境中的积累。