Fate and Transport of Micro and Nanoplastics in Groundwater

该博士项目将分析MnP从土壤到地下水的命运，运输和影响，以制定解决方案，减少MnP在地下水中造成的环境和公共健康风险。因此，博士将研究MnP，其添加剂和吸附的污染物的潜在风险，这些污染物可能会影响土壤和地下水微生物组，对水质和地下水含水层的自然衰减能力产生潜在的严重后果。遵循跨学科的多方法方法，该博士项目将开发和整合现场和实验室实验能力与数值建模工具，以提供对土壤和地下水MnP通量的传输机制和时间尺度的详细了解以及由于MnP电晕特性引起的相互作用。它将量化含水层类型和土地利用特定的MNP过境和峰值到达时间为广泛的目前循环的合成聚合物，在该领域遇到的MNP特性，以及新的可生物降解的聚合物。通过对所选塑料添加剂和吸附污染物随行程和运输时间变化的沥滤进行量化，将能够确定材料特性和环境相关风险概况，从而帮助私营和公共部门了解MNP造成的环境和公共健康风险。

This PhD project will analyse the fate, transport and impacts of MnP from soils to groundwater to develop solutions to reduce the environmental and public health risks posed by MnP in groundwater. The PhD will therefore investigate potential risks of MnP, their additives and adsorbed pollutants that can impact the soil and groundwater microbiome with potentially drastic consequences for water quality and the natural attenuation capacity of groundwater aquifers. Following an interdisciplinary multi-method approach, this PhD project will develop and integrate field and laboratory experimental capacity with numerical modelling tools to provide detailed understanding of the transport mechanisms and time scales of soil and groundwater MnP fluxes and interactions due to properties of MnP coronas. It will quantify aquifer type and land use specific MnP transit and peak arrival times for a wide range of currently circulating synthetic polymers, characterise MnP properties encountered in the field as well as novel biodegradable polymers. The quantification of travel and transit time dependent leaching of selected plastic additives and adsorbed pollutants will enable identification of material property and context dependent risk profiles that will assist private and public sectors in understanding environmental and public health risks posed by MnP.