CAREER: An Investigation of Microplastics Fate and Contaminant Transport in Storm Runoff, The Nexus of Environmental Engineering and Material Sciences

职业：风暴径流中微塑料的归宿和污染物输送的研究，环境工程和材料科学的联系

• 批准号: 2044836
• 负责人: Maryam Salehi
• 金额: $ 54.21万
• 依托单位: University of Memphis
• 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: 2021-04-15 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2044836&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Investigation; Microplastics; Fate; Contaminant

The use of plastics in consumer products and materials results in the release of small particles of plastic known as “microplastics” that can pollute the environment. These microplastics are persistent in the environment and will typically take hundreds of years to decompose completely. Microplastics can be transported through water, air, and through the food web following ingestion and uptake by animals and other organisms. In addition, microplastics can also absorb toxic pollutants, causing them to spread further and faster in the environment, including the world’s oceans. Although a majority of microplastics in marine environments originate from inland sources, the relative importance of microplastic pollutants released in urban storm runoff to surface waters is still poorly understood. The goal of this CAREER project is to close the critical knowledge gap on the environmental degradation of microplastics and how they facilitate the transport of heavy metals in urban stormwater. Successful completion of this research will greatly advance our understanding of microplastic sources in urban environments and how they mobilize heavy metals. Such knowledge will greatly aid the development of effective stormwater management strategies. Additional benefits to society will result from advancing scientific literacy and improving the Nation’s STEM workforce through the development of educational materials for K-12 teachers to educate their students on plastic pollution and inspire them to pursue careers in environmental engineering and science.The goal of this CAREER project is to utilize material science and environmental engineering interdisciplinary research to understand processes controlling the fate and transport of microplastics in urban stormwater. This will be achieved through the specific research objectives to elucidate the roles that intrinsic and extrinsic material properties play in influencing the kinetics of microplastic photodegradation and particle fragmentation, and examine how aqueous physiochemical processes impact microplastic facilitated transport of heavy metals present in stormwater. The fundamental knowledge developed in this research will provide a better conceptual understanding of the mechanisms controlling microplastics persistence and contaminant transport within the urban environment, which is crucial to estimating their negative impacts on the ecosystem and developing effective control measures and remediation strategies. This investigation represents one of the first efforts to develop a comprehensive mechanistic understanding of the physical and chemical processes that control microplastic fate and contaminant transport in stormwater. A key novelty of the proposed research addresses the mismatch between laboratory experiments that generally use virgin plastic pellets and beads by using environmentally relevant degraded secondary microplastics generated through the disintegration of larger plastic segments. This approach using microplastic fragmentation under abrasive tension will facilitate the development of dynamic models to predict microplastics disintegration under various mechanical loadings and physical conditions. The integrated educational plan will benefit society by providing professional development for K-12 educators through annual workshops to increase the recruitment of underrepresented students into environmental engineering. Additional benefits will result from dissemination of results to inform water managers, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders in Tennessee on the presence of microplastics in stormwater, and ways to combat the problem.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.

在消费品和材料中使用塑料会释放出称为“微塑料”的小塑料颗粒，这些塑料颗粒会长期存在于环境中，并且通常需要数百年才能完全分解。被动物和其他生物体摄入和吸收后，通过水、空气和食物网进行传播。此外，微塑料还可以吸收有毒污染物，导致它们在包括世界海洋在内的环境中进一步更快地传播。尽管海洋环境中的大部分微塑料来自内陆来源，但人们对城市暴雨径流中释放的微塑料污染物对地表水的相对重要性仍然知之甚少。该职业项目的目标是缩小关于海洋环境退化的关键知识差距。微塑料及其如何促进城市雨水中重金属的迁移，这项研究的成功完成将极大地增进我们对城市环境中微塑料来源及其如何移动重金属的了解，这些知识将极大地有助于制定有效的雨水管理策略。额外的通过为 K-12 教师开发教材，教育学生有关塑料污染的知识，并激励他们从事环境工程和科学事业，提高科学素养和改善国家 STEM 劳动力，将为社会带来好处。该职业的目标该项目旨在利用材料科学和环境工程跨学科研究来了解控制城市雨水中微塑料的命运和运输的过程，这将通过具体的研究目标来实现，以阐明内在和外在材料特性在影响动力学中所起的作用。微塑料光降解和颗粒破碎，并研究水体物理化学过程如何影响微塑料促进雨水中存在的重金属的运输，本研究中开发的基础知识将为控制城市环境中微塑料持久性和污染物运输的机制提供更好的概念性理解。这对于评估其对生态系统的负面影响以及制定有效的控制措施和补救策略至关重要，这项研究是对控制微塑料命运的物理和化学过程进行全面机械理解的首批努力之一。拟议研究的一个主要新颖之处是解决了实验室实验之间的不匹配问题，这些实验通常使用原始塑料颗粒和珠子，通过使用通过磨料作用下的微塑料破碎产生的与环境相关的降解的次级微塑料。张力将促进动态模型的开发，以预测微塑料在各种机械载荷和物理条件下的分解。综合教育计划将通过年度研讨会为 K-12 教育工作者提供专业发展，以提高微塑料分解的能力，从而造福社会。招募代表性不足的学生进入环境工程领域。通过向田纳西州的水管理人员、从业人员、政策制定者和其他利益相关者通报雨水中微塑料的存在以及解决该问题的方法，将产生额外的好处。该奖项是 NSF 的法定奖项。使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Studying the combined influence of microplastics’ intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics on their weathering behavior and heavy metal transport in storm runoff

研究微塑料内在和外在特征对其风化行为和暴雨径流中重金属迁移的综合影响

• DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119628
• 发表时间: 2022-09
• 期刊: Environmental Pollution
• 影响因子: 8.9
• 作者: Herath, Amali;Salehi, Maryam
• 通讯作者: Salehi, Maryam