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Plastic additives, small microplastics, and personal care products in the atmosphere in Svalbards (PLASTPERCH)
Call year: 2024
Status: active
IADC_id: 801
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Project description:
Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous emerging pollutants observed in every compartment (e.g., soil, sediments, seawater, biota, etc.) and at every latitude, even at polar latitudes. Microplastics below 100 µm, i.e., small microplastics (SMPs), are especially relevant to environmental and human health risk assessment. Biota can ingest MPs according to the size of their mouthparts; usually, invertebrates (e.g., mollusks and crustaceans) can ingest food particles around or less than 100 µm. Hence, SMPs can be ingested and enter the trophic web. The ingestion of SMPs has been observed in amphipods from Svalbard Islands (Iannili et al., 2019). rnWhile large MPs (>100µm) have been studied worldwide, SMPs are overlooked and can pose a risk to human beings. It should be noted that understanding the sources and pathways of MPs and SMPs is crucial. Due to their smallest size, SMPs can be transported through the atmosphere over a longer distance than larger, heavy particles. The atmospheric compartment is considered one of the significant essential pathways for the transport of SMPs to remote areas, and it can influence their long-range transport in these places (Evangeliou et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2019). Wind, rain/snowfall, and weathering can affect the transport pathways of SMPs from their sources, even bringing them from mid to high latitudes. Since the atmospheric load of plastic pollution is still unknown, further investigations are needed.rnPlastic additives (PAs) are employed in plastic production or degraded from plastic products; they may pose a heavily enhanced threat than MPs and SMPs. Thousands of compounds are used in plastic manufacturing, many of which are not firmly bound to the polymer, making them susceptible to being released into the surrounding environment. Like other plastic particles, airborne MPs and SMPs may act as a vector for the transport of these substances, e.g., phthalates, flame retardants, vulcanizing agents, antimicrobial agents, and bisphenol A (BPA), posing thereby another potential threat to biota and human health. Besides, additives like BPA and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are classified as endocrine disruptors, and their toxic impacts on the metabolic mechanism, reproductive function, and the nervous system have been widely reported.rnCharacterization of MPs and SMPs needs quantification and polymer identification, as stated by ECHA, which clearly defined microplastic particles and fibers (2019). MicroFTIR spectroscopy is a versatile and non-destructive technique that combines infrared spectroscopy and a microscopic approach; this project will employ this technique for the quantitative analysis and simultaneous polymer identification of SMPs in atmospheric aerosol samples collected at Svalbard Islands. This area represents the perfect field to investigate SMPs transports and pathways involved in the atmospheric cycle because of the significant limitation of local anthropogenic contaminations. Hence, the evidence of SMPs in this area will reveal the importance of global long-range transport of these pollutants in the atmosphere and, consequently, a potential accumulation zone from lower latitudes. Besides, the Arctic area is considered highly vulnerable to environmental perturbations and thus operates as sentinels of global changes. Any additional anthropogenic effects, including plastic pollution, might worsen climate change impacts faster in the Arctic than in other adaptable ecosystems. The project focuses on assessing the quantification and chemical identification of SMPs and PAs in the Svalbard Islands’s atmospheric aerosol to thoroughly comprehend their transport and pathways through the atmospheric compartment. rnThe role of SMPs and PAs in global long-scale transport and potential sources in this remote and sensitive polar area will be investigated. In this project, atmospheric aerosol samples will be collected at the Gruvebadet site (E433374, N8762566) to study SMPs’ temporal and spatial variability. The Gruvebadet sampling area is considered a suitable place for investigating SMPs’ possible local sources due to the anthropogenic presence from the scientific settlement, which can impact this remote area. A Total Suspended Particles sampler (AIR PUFF SAMPLET S/N 117415-51) will be employed throughout the year to collect atmospheric particulate, which will be analyzed to assess the occurrence of SMPs and PAs.rnAlong with sampling SMPs in atmospheric aerosol, there is also an additional activity related to sampling the gaseous component, aimed explicitly at monitoring volatile components of personal care products (fragrances and UV filters). This activity will be carried out under the responsibility of Dr. Marco Vecchiato, a researcher at the Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics (DAIS) of Ca’Foscari University Venice, optimizes the sampling effort of different categories of contaminants, using the same instrument (AIR PUFF SAMPLET S/N 117415-51)rnThe data of SMPs and PAs in atmospheric aerosol will improve our knowledge about the transport pathways and fate of SMPs within the air. Besides, these data will help implement a model on airborne microplastic transport in collaboration with Dr. Silvia Bucci, Department of Meteorology and Geophysics, Universitat of Wien, Austria. Meteorological parameters available from the automatic weather station installed in Ny-Alesund will be helpful for the model implementation.rnAbundance, chemical composition, shape, size, density, and weight will be investigated to fill the gap of knowledge and behavior of these emerging pollutants in the atmospheric compartment in the Arctic. rnrn
National/International Cooperation:
With the collaboration of Dr. Silvia Bucci, Department of Meteorology and Geophysics, Universitat of Wien, Austria, a transport model will be developed and implemented for SMPs and PAs in atmospheric aerosol.
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