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

从公众和环境健康的角度来看，微塑料(MPS)越来越受到关注。我们的团队代表了一个由多个机构和组织的研究人员组成的多学科网络，包括海洋保护组织Ocean Wise、UBC的三个学院、伍兹霍尔海洋研究所、温哥华大都会的环境监测和管理部以及温哥华市的环境工程服务。总体而言，我们处于独特的地位，能够为加拿大环境中塑料的科学解决方案做出重大贡献。这项建议旨在大幅提升技术，以准确量化和表征MPS在水环境中的污染，包括微纤维。由于陆上活动在将MPS引入海洋方面发挥了关键作用，沿海城市流域是应用这些技术和研究MPS进入路径的理想选择。佐治亚州海峡高度城市化，污染物的来源(即雨水/径流、大气沉积、混合下水道溢流、河流和废水排放)可以受到很好的限制。我们的目标是提供一套全面的、以解决方案为导向的研究方案，其中包括a)开发一套创新技术，用于准确量化和表征海水、浮游生物和食浮性鱼类中的MPS；b)关于MPS在佐治亚海峡(SOG)及其城市化分水岭中的来源、运输和去向的研究；c)微生物介导的MPS降解实验；d)开创性的预测模型，以评估MPS在SOG中的最终命运。我们的目标是确定控制MP在SOG中扩散、生物吸收、降解、沉积和出口到太平洋的过程。我们的发现将对城市排水和液体废水做法的管理产生直接影响；对于私营部门，因为公司寻求设计和制造更可持续的材料；对消费者和房主；以及在地方、国家和国际层面从事塑料、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.