RAPID: Concentration and Form of Metal and Metal-Baring Nanomaterial Contamination in Maui Fire Ash and Soil

RAPID：毛伊岛火灰和土壤中金属和含金属纳米材料污染的浓度和形态

• 批准号: 2345468
• 负责人: Mohammed Baalousha
• 金额: $ 20万
• 依托单位: University of South Carolina at Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-11-01 至 2024-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2345468&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RAPID; Concentration; Form; Metal; Baring

Wildfire activity and associated environmental impacts have increased dramatically in recent years as a result of climate and societal changes. Fire liberates and alters the properties of metals stored in plants, soils, and structural materials, rendering them more soluble, reactive, and potentially more hazardous to environmental and human health. This Rapid Response Research (RAPID) project will collect time-sensitive samples and data related to the Maui fire. In particular, this research will examine the 1) concentration, composition, and properties of metals and metal-bearing nanomaterials, and environmentally persistent free radicals in fire ash and soil collected following the Maui fire, 2) estimate the lung bioaccessibility of metals from fire ash, and 3) the mobilization of metals and nanomaterials in fire ash into surface water receiving runoff from burned areas. The data generated in this project will be shared with local Maui residents and communities in a timely manner to assist the Maui community in understanding the contaminants left over on the ground in their homes, businesses, and land following the catastrophic Maui fire and the potential environmental and human health risks of such contaminants. This project will support the training of two graduate students. Methods, data, and tools generated in this project will be integrated into existing undergraduate and graduate curricula at the University of South Carolina and California State University. The combustion of vegetation and structural materials in the wildland-urban interface leaves behind fire ash which is typically enriched in metals and metal-bearing nanomaterials. Additionally, the high temperature, limited oxygen, and release of reducing agents due to pyrolysis of organic matter in the fire environment alters the properties of metals and metal-bearing nanomaterials, potentially transforming them to more mobile and reactive materials compared to their native counterparts. Rainfall generates overland runoff which further mobilizes metals and nanomaterials in the fire ashes to downstream surface waters, potentially causing environmental and human health concerns. This Rapid Response Research (RAPID) project will collect time-sensitive ash, soil, and water samples and data related to the Maui fire with the aim to 1) quantify the concentration metal, metal bearing-nanomaterial, and environmentally persistent free radicals in the wildfire-urban interface fire ash and soil collected following the Maui wildland-urban interface fire, 2) characterize the properties, with particular focus on metal speciation, of metal-bearing nanomaterials in fire ash and soil, and 3) estimate the lung bioaccessibility of metals from fire ash using established metal solubility assays in artificial lung fluids. The proposed research will provide a comprehensive understanding of the nature, concentrations, and transformations of metals, metal-bearing nanomaterials, and environmentally persistent free radicals in the fire environment. These data will be generated by adopting a state-of-the-art multi-method approach to characterize the properties of incidental nanomaterials including single particle-inductively coupled plasma-time of flight-mass spectroscopy, high resolution-transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and electron paramagnetic resonance. The major and most important broader impact of the proposed research is to assist the Maui community in understanding the contaminants left over on the ground in their homes, businesses, and land following the catastrophic Maui fire and the potential environmental and human health risks of such contaminants. Other broader impacts of the proposed research include: 1) identifying novel questions and guiding future research in the area of fire-borne contamination; 2) generating datasets useful to other fields such as public health to better understand diseases linked to exposure to fire-emitted contaminants; and 3) enabling use of the generated data by public utilities such as drinking water treatment plants, to ensure appropriate processing of drinking water.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.

近年来，由于气候和社会变化，野火活动和相关的环境影响急剧增加。火会释放并改变植物、土壤和结构材料中储存的金属的特性，使它们更易溶解、更具反应性，对环境和人类健康潜在的危害更大。该快速响应研究 (RAPID) 项目将收集与毛伊岛火灾相关的时间敏感样本和数据。特别是，本研究将检查 1) 毛伊岛火灾后收集的火灰和土壤中金属和含金属纳米材料的浓度、成分和特性，以及环境持久性自由基，2) 估计火灾中金属的肺部生物可访问性灰烬，以及3）将火灰中的金属和纳米材料调动到接收燃烧区域径流的地表水中。该项目生成的数据将及时与毛伊岛当地居民和社区共享，以帮助毛伊岛社区了解毛伊岛灾难性火灾后遗留在其家庭、企业和土地上的污染物以及潜在的环境影响以及此类污染物对人类健康的风险。该项目将支持培养两名研究生。该项目产生的方法、数据和工具将被整合到南卡罗来纳大学和加州州立大学现有的本科生和研究生课程中。荒地与城市交界处的植被和结构材料燃烧留下的火灰通常富含金属和含金属的纳米材料。此外，火灾环境中有机物热解导致的高温、有限的氧气和还原剂的释放改变了金属和含金属纳米材料的特性，与天然材料相比，有可能将它们转变为更具流动性和反应性的材料。降雨产生地表径流，进一步将火灰中的金属和纳米材料转移到下游地表水中，可能引起环境和人类健康问题。该快速响应研究 (RAPID) 项目将收集与毛伊岛火灾相关的对时间敏感的灰烬、土壤和水样本以及数据，目的是 1) 量化火灾中金属、含金属纳米材料和环境持久性自由基的浓度。毛伊岛荒地-城市界面火灾后收集的野火-城市界面火灰和土壤，2) 表征火灰和土壤中含金属纳米材料的特性，特别关注金属形态，以及 3)使用人工肺液中已建立的金属溶解度测定来估计火灰中金属的肺生物可及性。拟议的研究将全面了解火灾环境中金属、含金属纳米材料和环境持久性自由基的性质、浓度和转化。这些数据将通过采用最先进的多方法来表征偶然纳米材料的特性，包括单粒子电感耦合等离子体飞行时间质谱、高分辨率透射电子显微镜、X-射线衍射、X射线吸收光谱和电子顺磁共振。拟议研究的主要和最重要的更广泛影响是帮助毛伊岛社区了解毛伊岛灾难性火灾后留在其家庭、企业和土地上的污染物以及这些污染物的潜在环境和人类健康风险。拟议研究的其他更广泛的影响包括：1）确定新问题并指导火源污染领域的未来研究； 2) 生成对公共卫生等其他领域有用的数据集，以更好地了解与接触火灾排放污染物相关的疾病； 3) 使饮用水处理厂等公共事业能够使用生成的数据，以确保饮用水的适当处理。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响进行评估，被认为值得支持审查标准。