Sources and fate of plastic-associated contaminants in the environment- novel analysis strategies to evaluate human and environmental exposure

环境中塑料相关污染物的来源和归宿——评估人类和环境暴露的新颖分析策略

• 批准号: RGPIN-2021-03770
• 负责人: Suehring, Roxana
• 金额: $ 2.11万
• 依托单位: Ryerson University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=748547
• 关键词: Sources; fate; plastic; associated; contaminants

Plastics are a global pollution problem. Their global annual production is estimated at around 245 million tons. A major side effect of this immense production and use of plastic products is an increasing pollution of the environment with plastic-associated contaminants, including microplastics and hazardous chemical plastic additives. Microplastic and many chemical plastic additives are a challenge for current environmental and human health risk assessment, because they often do not meet the standard risk assessment criteria of persistence, bioaccumulation potential and toxicity. This makes it difficult to risk assess and regulate them, even though there are strong scientific indications for environmental and human health impacts for many of these plastic-associated contaminants. To evaluate potential risks from plastic-associated contaminants, established methods for chemical risk assessment need to be adapted to account for the specific environmental transport and fate of microplastics and emerging plastic additives. The aim of my long-term research program is to facilitate this process by developing methods to understand the underlying mechanisms for plastic-associated contaminant occurrence and transport in the environment. Within the five years of the Discovery Grant research, I will identify plastic-associated contaminants with a high risk for human exposure from a product life-cycle point of view, with a focus on potential contamination of freshwater and drinking water resources in Toronto. The short-term objectives for this research proposal are to - Identify priority plastic-associated contaminants in urban water which are highly linked to human exposure, - Analyse microplastics as co-contaminants or sources for persistent and mobile organic contaminants (PMOCs), - Determine how contaminant profiles and potential emissions of plastic-associated contaminants into water and food change over the "life-cycle" of a plastic product. These short-term objectives will be achieved through a combination of state-of-the-art chemical analysis, multivariate statistical analysis of factors that impact the potential for human and environmental exposure, and experimental investigation of PMOC mobility into groundwater. The outlined research will create new knowledge on the PMOC physical-chemical properties and plastic product properties that impact plastic-associated contaminant patterns and concentrations in consumer products and drinking water in Canada. The generated knowledge will advance the field of plastic contaminant research and facilitate impactful chemical management and policy development. The HQP trained through the program will have the skills to be leaders and innovators for state-of-the-art instrumental chemical analyses and mechanistic understanding of chemical transport in the environment.

塑料是一个全球性的污染问题。它们的全球年产量估计约为 2.45 亿吨。塑料产品的大量生产和使用的一个主要副作用是与塑料相关的污染物（包括微塑料和危险化学塑料添加剂）对环境的污染日益严重。微塑料和许多化学塑料添加剂对当前的环境和人类健康风险评估是一个挑战，因为它们往往不符合持久性、生物蓄积潜力和毒性的标准风险评估标准。这使得对它们进行风险评估和监管变得困难，尽管有强有力的科学证据表明许多与塑料相关的污染物会对环境和人类健康产生影响。 为了评估与塑料相关的污染物的潜在风险，需要调整化学风险评估的既定方法，以考虑微塑料和新兴塑料添加剂的特定环境传输和命运。我的长期研究计划的目的是通过开发方法来了解塑料相关污染物在环境中发生和传输的基本机制，从而促进这一过程。在发现补助金研究的五年内，我将从产品生命周期的角度识别人类接触塑料相关污染物的高风险，重点关注多伦多淡水和饮用水资源的潜在污染。 该研究计划的短期目标是 - 确定城市水中与人类暴露高度相关的优先塑料相关污染物， - 分析微塑料作为共同污染物或持久性和移动性有机污染物 (PMOC) 的来源， - 确定在塑料产品的“生命周期”中，污染物概况以及塑料相关污染物向水和食品中的潜在排放量如何变化。这些短期目标将通过结合最先进的化学分析、影响人类和环境暴露潜力的因素的多元统计分析以及 PMOC 迁移到地下水中的实验研究来实现。概述的研究将创造有关 PMOC 物理化学特性和塑料产品特性的新知识，这些特性会影响加拿大消费品和饮用水中与塑料相关的污染物模式和浓度。所产生的知识将推动塑料污染物研究领域的发展，并促进有效的化学品管理和政策制定。通过该计划接受培训的总部人员将具备成为最先进的仪器化学分析和环境中化学品传输机制理解的领导者和创新者的技能。