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

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化学上相对惰性的物质，会向环境中释放有毒化学物质。最近的证据表明，塑料暴露在光、温度或微生物下时，会转化为各种挥发性不同的有机产品。甲烷是从塑料中排放的一种强有力的温室气体，但其降解不同类型聚合物的来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排放，并在与臭氧、OH或NO3等氧化剂反应中进一步氧化。人们对释放到大气中的微塑料的数量和影响知之甚少。关键是要了解这些潜在有害物种的化学成分和排放率，以及环境变化和预计的塑料产量可能如何影响未来VOC的组成和浓度。目标：(I)在不同的实验条件下对不同塑料中的GHG、VOC和SVOC进行新的测量(Ii)进一步了解使用VOC/SVOC作为示踪剂的温室气体的来源解析(Iii)量化这种变化在未来的新颖性：这是一个独特的机会，可以使用新兴的实验技术，如PTRQiTOFMS，来了解塑料降解的化学物质，以及释放的化学物质对环境和健康的影响。及时性：由于产量的增加和温度的变化，预计未来塑料产生的广泛化学物质的排放量将增加。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堆积。

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.