Revealing the hidden identity and toxicity of priority chemical pollutants released during microplastic degradation and additive leaching in marine...

项目摘要：海洋塑料垃圾分解产生的微纳尺度塑料对海洋和沿海生态系统构成严重威胁.众所周知，微塑料(MPS)在海洋环境中通过磨损(物理)、高级氧化过程(非生物)和生物降解(生物)降解，导致未与聚合物基质化学结合的添加剂被淋失。这些变化在实验室条件下很难重现；它们极大地增加了表征MPS和MP衍生有机物质的化学复杂性和分析挑战。该项目解决了以下重要问题：哪些来自微塑料(MP)降解的新出现的化学污染物是未来沿海水域海洋监测和遵从性监测的优先目标。成功的成果将包括确定MP渗滤液中的持久性化学添加剂，这些添加剂不会降解并对海洋生态系统构成有毒威胁。技术摘要：MP降解会导致非化学结合在聚合物基质上的添加剂被淋失，这大大增加了MPS和MP衍生有机物的化学复杂性和分析难度。因此，降解的MPS和MP渗滤液的降解机理和生态毒理效应仍然知之甚少，没有立法文书/政策为环境评估提供指导。本专业的目的是开发一种新的多模式方法，结合最先进的分析技术对环境MPS和潜在有毒降解产物的复杂混合物进行全面的成分分析。通过使用无针对性的方法，还可以对利益攸关方和其他海洋研究小组确定的感兴趣的化学组的数据进行回溯性“挖掘”。最近开发的标准化生态毒理学测试将用于评估降解的MP和MP渗滤液的生物风险，同时使用最新的化学计量学方法来确定海洋环境中MPS在淋溶和降解过程中释放的优先污染物清单。

...and coastal environments.Project Summary: Micro- and nanoscale plastics produced from the decomposition of marine plastic debris pose a severe threat to marine and coastal ecosystems. Microplastics (MPs) are known to undergo degradation in the marine environment through abrasion (physical), advanced oxidation processes (abiotic), and biological degradation (biotic), resulting in the leaching of additives not chemically bound to the polymer matrix. These transformations are difficult to reproduce under laboratory conditions; they dramatically increase the chemical complexity and analytical challenge of characterising MPs and MP-derived organics.This project addresses the important question of which emerging chemical contaminants from microplastic (MP) degradation are priority targets for future marine surveillance and compliance monitoring of coastal waters. Successful outcomes will include the identification of persistent chemical additives in MP-leachate, that do not degrade and pose a toxic threat to marine ecosystems. Technical Summary: MP degradation results in the leaching of additives not chemically bound to the polymer matrix, which dramatically increases the chemical complexity and analytical challenge of characterising MPs and MP-derived organics. Consequently, the degradation mechanisms and ecotoxicological effects of degraded MPs and MP-leachates remain poorly understood, with no legislative instruments/policies that provide guidelines for environmental assessments.The aim of this studentship is to develop a novel multimodal approach, employing a combination of state-of-the-art analytical technologies to conduct a comprehensive compositional analysis of environmental MPs and complex mixture of potentially toxic degradation products. By using a non-targeted approach, the data can also be retrospectively 'mined' for chemical groups of interest identified by stakeholders and other marine research teams. Recently developed standardised ecotoxicological tests will be used to assess the biological risk of the degraded MP and MP-leachate, alongside the use of the latest chemometric methods to identify a list of priority pollutants released during leaching and degradation of MPs in the marine environment.