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About PlasURE
About PlasURE
Microplastics (MPs) are a hot topic in the scientific community, mainly associated to water bodies. But their presence in the atmosphere was also recorded and being small (1 μm–5 mm) low-density particles, their transport capacity is deemed high, as is the possibility of penetrating the respiratory and digestive tract of living beings, carrying also other contaminants that raise the potential toxicity. Considering the numerous possible mechanisms of MPs release to the air, there is still a lot to unravel.
The framework of this proposal is key to tackle some of the questions that arise from the gaps in the state-of-the-art: To what extent are airborne MPs present in urban and rural areas? Which are the differences between both areas? Are there marked temporal and geographical trends? Are the potential toxic effects of MPs different? Can extreme events like wildfires influence the presence and distribution of MPs in the atmosphere? Can pine needles and soils complement active air sampling to provide a much wider coverage of the target domain? Are chemical transport models able to reproduce the current behaviour of MPs under baseline and extreme conditions and estimate future climate change scenarios in the whole country? Answering these questions is ensuring an outstanding outcome to fulfil PlasURE’s drive.
Project Tasks
Task 1. Optimization/validation of analytical method
Adapt methods for MPs in active air samples, pine needles and soil
Optimize methods for PAHs in air samples, pine needles and soils
Task 2. Sampling and analysis of air/pine needles/soil
Definition and deployment of active air samplers in at least 3 urban sites in Porto (urban, traffic and background) and one rural area (Tábua)
Air sampling strategy to include weekly and seasonal variation, every three months for two years. Nearby pine needles (preferably from the same species and the same trees) and soils (top layer) collected every three months for two years
Analysis of the pine needles and soil samples collected after the 2017 fires in Portugal. Needles collected from current and previous year; soils collected from the top layer
Task 3. Toxicity assays
Use of simulated exposure of blank MPs in all sampling points with different times of exposure (up to one year)
Exposure of blank and exposed samples to the simulated human lung cell kit – cytotoxicity and genotoxicity
Simulate the levels of samples exposed to forest fires if possible – use PAHs as reference
Task 4. Levels, trends and health impacts of airborne MPs
Determine the composition, spatial and temporal (seasonal) trends of MPs and PAHs in pine needles and soil collected after the 2017 forest fires in Portugal
Determine the composition and temporal (daily – if possible; weekly; seasonal) trends of MPs and PAHs in air samples collected in Porto and Tábua and the same for pine needles and soil collected nearby (only seasonal trends in this case).
Determine the human exposure (inhalation, ingestion, dermal contact) to MPs and PAHs in all cases using models reported in literature
Task 5. Modelling the presence and fate of airborne MPs
Define a typical MP particle (from the composition found in the air/biomonitor samples) to include in the chemical transport models
Model the impact of forest fires in terms of MPs and PAHs using the biomonitor samples collected after the 2017 fires in Portugal
Model the presence of airborne MPs using the air sampling (and biomonitoring) in Porto and Tábua – if biomonitors represent MPs “correctly”, perform at least two more (winter/summer) country-wide sampling of pine needles and soil in selected sites
Perform future projections under climate change scenarios for levels, trends and health indicators (exposure) available for MPs and PAHs
Task 6. Knowledge integration and dissemination
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