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

微塑料在自然环境中无处不在，这是一个日益令人关注的领域。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对人类和生态系统健康都有不利影响，因为它们被集中在食物链上并向上转移。此外，最近有人建议，微塑料可以作为金属污染物的载体。因此，需要更好地了解在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，在那里将对微塑料和吸附在上面的金属进行分析。除了这项分析之外，还可能对被吸附的金属进行从源到汇的第一次同位素分析，以评估与微塑料的联系，并设法查明金属和微塑料的共同来源。除了这些分析，这项研究还将寻求对污染物排放源(如污水排放)进行分类，这些污染源被假设为协同释放微塑料和金属。最终，这种分析将释放出调查来自不同来源的微塑料和金属排放的分布和程度的可能性，而不管它们与原始排放源的接近程度。通过这项研究，可以确定金属和微塑料之间的联系，以及它们在泰晤士河口内的去向。

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.