CAREER: Microplastics in snow-dominated environments - sources, transport, and fate

职业：积雪环境中的微塑料 - 来源、运输和归宿

• 批准号: 2045871
• 负责人: Monica Arienzo
• 金额: $ 55.08万
• 依托单位: Nevada System of Higher Education, Desert Research Institute
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-07-01 至 2026-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2045871&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Microplastics; snow; dominated; environments; CAREER; Microplastics; snow; dominated; environments

The accumulation of plastic debris is an increasing concern for the environment following decades of global plastic production. Microplastics (plastic particles less than 5 millimeters) have received increased scientific attention as they have been found around the globe, including recent studies which have shown microplastic contamination in remote locations. However, questions remain about the sources, transport, and fate of microplastics deposited in the environment. The goal of this study is to measure the amount and type of microplastics deposited in snow and snow-fed water resources in the Sierra Nevada of California and Nevada. Measurements will be used to assess the sources of microplastics to the remote environment and the downstream fate of microplastics in important water resources. The research findings will be integrated into a middle school mobile teaching kit. The mobile teaching kit will include a series of lessons surrounding the topics of hydrology, microplastics, anthropogenic pollution, and water quality, with the objective of enhancing an interest in science at the middle school level.Microplastics have been observed throughout the environment, however, questions remain about the sources, transport, and fate of microplastics, particularly in remote environments. Through a combination of field and laboratory-based studies, the proposed research aims at assessing: (1) spatial variability of microplastics in snow from headwater basins; (2) deposition and subsequent vertical distribution of microplastics in the snowpack during accumulation and melt; and (3) fate of microplastics as they move downstream toward snow-fed water resources. With a focus on snow and water resources in the Sierra Nevada of California and Nevada, the proposed work will develop methods for microplastic isolation and detection, conduct spatial and temporal sampling of snow, snowmelt, air and water, and apply infrared microscopy and Pyrolysis-GC/MS for characterization of type and amount of microplastics. The study will improve our understanding of sources to remote locations, microplastic transport in snow-dominated systems, and downstream contamination. It will further generate data that can be used to better understand human impacts to freshwater resources beyond the Sierra Nevada, including other snow-dominated environments around the globe. The project will support training of two PhD and several undergraduate students and will develop a mobile teaching kit to provide educators with appropriate tools for exposing middle school students to microplastics, environmental science, and hydrology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

几十年来全球塑料生产后，塑料碎片的积累是对环境的越来越多的关注。由于在全球范围内发现的微型塑料（塑料颗粒小于5毫米），因此受到了越来越多的科学关注，其中包括最近的研究，这些研究表明在远程位置显示了微塑料污染。但是，关于存放在环境中的微塑料的来源，运输和命运仍然存在问题。这项研究的目的是测量在加利福尼亚州和内华达州内华达州内华达州雪和积雪的水资源中沉积的微塑料的数量和类型。测量将用于评估偏远环境的微塑料来源以及重要水资源中微塑料的下游命运。研究结果将集成到中学移动教学套件中。移动教学套件将包括围绕水文学，微塑料，人为污染和水质的主题的一系列课程，目的是增强对中学一级对科学的兴趣。但是，在整个环境中都观察到了微塑料的问题，但在整个环境中仍然存在问题，尤其是在远程环境中的来源，运输和微型塑料范围。通过田间和基于实验室的研究的结合，拟议的研究旨在评估：（1）从雷德沃特盆地中雪中微塑料的空间变异性； （2）在积累和熔体过程中，微塑料在积雪中的沉积和随后的垂直分布； （3）微塑料的命运在下游向积雪的水资源移动。侧重于加利福尼亚和内华达州内华达州内华达州的雪和水资源，拟议的工作将开发用于微塑料隔离和检测的方法，对雪，雪融化，空气和水进行空间和时间采样，并应用红外显微镜和pyroly Siprysy-gc/pyrysis-gc/MS，用于表征微塑料类型和量的微型量。这项研究将提高我们对偏远位置的来源的理解，雪为主导的系统中的微型运输以及下游污染。它将进一步生成可以用来更好地理解内华达山脉以外淡水资源的人类影响的数据，包括全球其他雪地主导的环境。该项目将支持对两名博士学位和几位本科生的培训，并将开发一个移动教学套件，以向教育工作者提供适当的工具，以使中学生接触微塑料，环境科学和水文学。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是通过该基金会的知识分子和更广泛的影响来评估通过评估的支持。