Evaluating the Role of Microplastics as a Vector in Metal Cycling within the Thames Estuary

微塑料在自然环境中的普遍存在是一个日益受到关注的领域。一旦微塑料进入环境系统，它们就会与周围的污染物（如金属）相互作用。微塑料和金属污染物被认为会对人类和生态系统健康产生有害影响，因为它们会集中并转移到食物链的上游。此外，最近有人提出，微塑料可以作为金属污染物的载体。因此，需要更好地了解自然环境中发现的微塑料的全部污染潜力。该项目将在泰晤士河口进行，其中将分析微塑料和吸附在其上的金属。除了这项分析之外，还将对吸附的金属进行可能是第一次的源到汇同位素分析，以评估与微塑料的关联，并寻求确定金属和微塑料的共同来源。除了这些分析，该研究还将寻求对污染物排放源（如污水流出）进行分类，假设这些污染物排放源协同释放微塑料和金属。最终，这些分析将释放出调查不同来源的微塑料和金属排放的分布和程度的潜力，无论它们是否接近原始排放源。通过这项研究，有可能确定金属和微塑料之间的联系及其在泰晤士河口的命运。

The ubiquity of microplastics in the natural environment is an area of growing concern. Once microplastics enter environmental systems they interact with surrounding pollutants such as metals. Microplastic and metal pollutants are thought to have detrimental effects on both human and ecosystem health as they are concentrated and transferred up the food chain. Furthermore, it has recently been suggested that microplastics could act as vectors for metal pollutants. Hence, a greater understanding of the full contaminant potential of microplastics found in the natural environment is required. This project will be conducted in the Thames Estuary, in which microplastics and the metals found sorbed on them will be analysed. Alongside this analysis potentially one of the first of its kind source-to-sink isotopic analyses will be conducted on the sorbed metals to evaluate associations with microplastics and seek to identify mutual sources of metals and microplastics. Alongside these analyses the study will also seek to categorise pollutant emission sources (such as sewage outflows) hypothesised to synergistically release microplastics and metals. Ultimately such analyses will unlock the potential to investigate the distribution and extent of both microplastic and metal emissions derived from differing sources, regardless of their proximity to the original source of emissions. With this research it would be possible to determine connections between metals and microplastics and their fate within the Thames estuary.