Sources, sinks and fate of microplastics in the Strait of Georgia and its urbanized watershed: a solution-oriented natural mesocosm study.

微塑料（MPs）越来越受到公众和环境健康的关注。我们的团队代表了来自多个机构和组织的多学科研究人员网络，包括海洋保护组织海洋智慧，三个UBC学院，伍兹霍尔海洋研究所，大温哥华地区的环境监测和管理部门以及温哥华市的环境工程服务。总的来说，我们处于独特的地位，可以为加拿大环境中的塑料提供基于科学的解决方案。该提案旨在实质性地推进技术，以准确量化和表征水生环境中的MPs污染，包括微纤维。由于陆地活动在将MPs引入海洋中起着关键作用，沿海城市流域是应用这些技术和研究MPs进入途径的理想场所。格鲁吉亚海峡高度城市化，污染物的来源（即雨水/径流、大气沉积、综合下水道溢出、河流和废水排放）可以得到很好的限制。我们的目标是提供一个全面的，以解决方案为导向的研究包，其中包括a)开发一套创新技术，用于准确定量和表征海洋水域，浮游生物和浮游生物鱼类中的MPs；b)格鲁吉亚海峡（SoG）及其城市化流域MPs的来源、运输和命运研究；c)微生物介导的MPs降解实验；d)开创性的预测模型来评估SoG中MPs的最终命运。我们的目标是确定控制MP扩散、生物吸收、降解、在SoG中沉积和出口到太平洋的过程。我们的研究结果将对城市排水和液体废水管理实践产生直接影响；对于私营部门来说，公司寻求设计和制造更可持续的材料；对于消费者和房主；以及在地方、国家和国际层面上从事塑料、材料设计和贸易的监管机构和政策制定者。

Microplastics (MPs) are increasingly concerning from both public and environmental health perspectives. Our team represents a multi-disciplinary network of researchers from several institutions and organizations, including the ocean conservation organization Ocean Wise, three UBC faculties, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Environmental Monitoring and Management Division at Metro Vancouver and Environmental Engineering Services at the City of Vancouver. Collectively, we are uniquely positioned to significantly contribute to inform science-based solutions to plastics in the Canadian environment.This proposal aims to substantially advance technologies to accurately quantify and characterize MPs pollution, including microfibers, in aquatic environments. As land-based activities play a key role in introducing MPs to the ocean, coastal urban watersheds are ideal to apply these technologies and study entry pathways of MPs. The Strait of Georgia is heavily urbanized and sources of contaminants (i.e. stormwater /runoff, atmospheric deposition, combined sewer overflows, rivers and wastewater outfalls) can be well constrained. Our goal is to deliver a comprehensive, solution-oriented research package that combines a) the development of a suite of innovative technologies for the accurate quantification and characterization of MPs in marine waters, plankton and planktivorous fish; b) studies on the sources, transport and fate of MPs in the Strait of Georgia (SoG) and its urbanized watershed; c) experiments on microbial-mediated MPs degradation; d) pioneering predictive models to evaluate the ultimate fate of MPs in SoG. We aim to identify the processes controlling MP dispersal, biological uptake, degradation, sedimentation in SoG, and export to the Pacific Ocean. Our findings will have direct implications for urban management of drainage water and liquid wastewater practices; for the private sector as firms seek to design and manufacture more sustainable materials; and for the consumer and homeowners; and regulators and policymakers working on plastics, material design and trade at the local, national, and international level.