Periodic Reporting for period 3 - LABPLAS (Land-Based Solutions for Plastics in the Sea)
Période du rapport: 2024-06-01 au 2025-05-31
The LABPLAS project aims to comprehensively understand the sources, transport mechanisms, distribution, and impacts of plastic pollution across abiotic (freshwater, marine, terrestrial, atmospheric), and biotic (aquatic biota) environmental compartments to inform effective plastic governance policies and future research, with a focus on small-, micro-, and nano-plastics (SMNPs ≤100 µm), based on two key assumptions:
1. Most plastic pollution stemss from land-based sources, and
2. Impacts depend on particle size, shape, and composition.
Sampling for SMNPs occurred in two contrasting case studies:
1. The urban-industrial Thames and Elbe River basins, which feed into the North Sea, and
2. The rural Atlantic Mero-Barcés river basin and drinking water reservoir (NW Iberian Peninsula), impacted by highway traffic.
Main Achievements:
The main achievements of the LABPLAS project encompass the generation of novel data on micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) quantities, types, and seasonal variations across the land-to-sea continuum, alongside the development and standardization of advanced analytical workflows for detecting and characterizing the smallest MNPs in air, water, sediments, and biota. Furthermore, a lab-on-a-chip device for polymer identification was developed, as well as refined methodologies for analyzing plastics in mussels and innovative biodegradation tests tailored for freshwater environments. The LABPLAS project also calculated the plastic-to-zooplankton ratio (PZR) to provide valuable insights into the impacts of microplastics on marine food webs, while enhancing the POS2IDON framework with machine learning applied to Sentinel-2 imagery to detect floating marine plastic debris and oceanographic features. In addition, a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework for biodegradable plastics was generated taking into consideration ecotoxicity factors and a tiered toxicity testing scheme was also developed to evaluate environmental risks more effectively. Finally, five models were engineered to simulate microplastic transport, fate, and potential human health impacts.
1. Most plastic pollution stemss from land-based sources, and
2. Impacts depend on particle size, shape, and composition.
Sampling for SMNPs occurred in two contrasting case studies:
1. The urban-industrial Thames and Elbe River basins, which feed into the North Sea, and
2. The rural Atlantic Mero-Barcés river basin and drinking water reservoir (NW Iberian Peninsula), impacted by highway traffic.
Main Achievements:
The main achievements of the LABPLAS project encompass the generation of novel data on micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) quantities, types, and seasonal variations across the land-to-sea continuum, alongside the development and standardization of advanced analytical workflows for detecting and characterizing the smallest MNPs in air, water, sediments, and biota. Furthermore, a lab-on-a-chip device for polymer identification was developed, as well as refined methodologies for analyzing plastics in mussels and innovative biodegradation tests tailored for freshwater environments. The LABPLAS project also calculated the plastic-to-zooplankton ratio (PZR) to provide valuable insights into the impacts of microplastics on marine food webs, while enhancing the POS2IDON framework with machine learning applied to Sentinel-2 imagery to detect floating marine plastic debris and oceanographic features. In addition, a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework for biodegradable plastics was generated taking into consideration ecotoxicity factors and a tiered toxicity testing scheme was also developed to evaluate environmental risks more effectively. Finally, five models were engineered to simulate microplastic transport, fate, and potential human health impacts.
• General observations from sample analysis include: (i) Higher MP concentrations in the summer compared to winter across all environmental compartments; (ii) MP concentrations tend to be higher in rivers than in marine environments; (iii) PP is the dominant polymer in the surface and subsurface water, whereas PE and PTFE are more prevalent in sediments.
• Standardized matrix-specific hybrid analytical workflows harmonized sampling, sample treatment, isolation, and detection protocols to ensure reproducibility and inter-study comparability. Key advancements include the refinement of QCL-IR with optimized analyte transfer protocols using metal-coated (primarily gold) filters and reflective slides to improve recovery across various sample types and the development of an integrated thermoanalytical workflow, combining TD-GC/MS and Py-GC/MS to allow for the simultaneous identification of polymer types, quantification of MP mass and detection of co-occurring additives, all within a single analytical run.
• Guidelines for the extraction, purification, and detection of the smallest small microplastics (SSM) (≤ 20 µm – 1 µm) and nanoparticles (≤1000 nm – 30 nm) were established for water, suspended sediments, and biota samples.
• A portable, modular, and cost-effective Lab-on-a-chip microfluidic system was developed to sort by size and enable Raman-based identification of SSM and nanoplastics.
• A novel methodology was established for analyzing MP in mussels and other biota, using gold-coated filters and QC-LDIR transflectance analysis.
• To assess ecological risks, the plastic-to-zooplankton ratio (PZR) was calculated for the Mediterranean basin, providing new insights into the impact of MP on marine food webs and thus as a potential Good Environmental Status (GES) indicator for the MSFD.
• At the macro scale, the POS2IDON framework was enhanced for detecting suspected locations of floating marine plastic debris and other oceanographic features using high-resolution Sentinel-2 satellite imagery enhanced with machine learning algorithms.
• Adaptations from marine biodegradation standards led to the development of three novel limnic biodegradation test methods, using freshwater and sediments from lakes and rivers.
• Generated a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework for assessing biodegradable plastics, taking into consideration ecotoxicity factors.
• Developed the LABPLAS Project Toxicity Testing Scheme (LPTTS), a tiered framework designed to address two primary exposure pathways: (i) waterborne chemicals leached from plastics (Tier I), and (ii) plastic particles in contact with and/or ingested by organisms (Tier II).
• Developed five models to support the simulation and assessment of microplastic transport and fate:
(1) A detailed physics-based 3D time-marching (Eulerian) model for the North Sea, built in openTELEMAC, incorporating settling velocity-based Population Balance Equation (PBE) modelling. It accounts for buoyant and non-buoyant plastics, and is coupled with water motion and sediment transport calculations;
(2) A detailed physics-based depth-averaged 2DH Eulerian model for the Elbe Estuary (also in openTELEMAC) with particle size-based PBE modelling focusing on non-buoyant particles and coupled with water motion and sediment transport calculations. Findings from this model suggest that estuaries are also important sinks for river-transported MP;
(3) A 1D river basin model (ePLAS), allows fast calculations by solving only the mass balance for MP.
(4) A 1D vertical biogeochemical model for simulating the leachate transport from buried microplastics on the sediment bed.
(5) A foodweb exposure model, that estimates potential human health risks from fish consumption, based on MP concentration inputs from any of the above models. Initial assessments suggest that MP may pose a relevant role if humans' daily ingestion exceeds >1 mg of very small (1 µm) MP.
• Policy briefs were developed, addressing key issues such as tyre particle emissions, biodegradable polymers, plastic additives, and analytical methods for SMNP detection.
• Insights gained across the project’s various work packages informed the development of an action-oriented online course on micro- and nanoplastics in the environment.
• Standardized matrix-specific hybrid analytical workflows harmonized sampling, sample treatment, isolation, and detection protocols to ensure reproducibility and inter-study comparability. Key advancements include the refinement of QCL-IR with optimized analyte transfer protocols using metal-coated (primarily gold) filters and reflective slides to improve recovery across various sample types and the development of an integrated thermoanalytical workflow, combining TD-GC/MS and Py-GC/MS to allow for the simultaneous identification of polymer types, quantification of MP mass and detection of co-occurring additives, all within a single analytical run.
• Guidelines for the extraction, purification, and detection of the smallest small microplastics (SSM) (≤ 20 µm – 1 µm) and nanoparticles (≤1000 nm – 30 nm) were established for water, suspended sediments, and biota samples.
• A portable, modular, and cost-effective Lab-on-a-chip microfluidic system was developed to sort by size and enable Raman-based identification of SSM and nanoplastics.
• A novel methodology was established for analyzing MP in mussels and other biota, using gold-coated filters and QC-LDIR transflectance analysis.
• To assess ecological risks, the plastic-to-zooplankton ratio (PZR) was calculated for the Mediterranean basin, providing new insights into the impact of MP on marine food webs and thus as a potential Good Environmental Status (GES) indicator for the MSFD.
• At the macro scale, the POS2IDON framework was enhanced for detecting suspected locations of floating marine plastic debris and other oceanographic features using high-resolution Sentinel-2 satellite imagery enhanced with machine learning algorithms.
• Adaptations from marine biodegradation standards led to the development of three novel limnic biodegradation test methods, using freshwater and sediments from lakes and rivers.
• Generated a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework for assessing biodegradable plastics, taking into consideration ecotoxicity factors.
• Developed the LABPLAS Project Toxicity Testing Scheme (LPTTS), a tiered framework designed to address two primary exposure pathways: (i) waterborne chemicals leached from plastics (Tier I), and (ii) plastic particles in contact with and/or ingested by organisms (Tier II).
• Developed five models to support the simulation and assessment of microplastic transport and fate:
(1) A detailed physics-based 3D time-marching (Eulerian) model for the North Sea, built in openTELEMAC, incorporating settling velocity-based Population Balance Equation (PBE) modelling. It accounts for buoyant and non-buoyant plastics, and is coupled with water motion and sediment transport calculations;
(2) A detailed physics-based depth-averaged 2DH Eulerian model for the Elbe Estuary (also in openTELEMAC) with particle size-based PBE modelling focusing on non-buoyant particles and coupled with water motion and sediment transport calculations. Findings from this model suggest that estuaries are also important sinks for river-transported MP;
(3) A 1D river basin model (ePLAS), allows fast calculations by solving only the mass balance for MP.
(4) A 1D vertical biogeochemical model for simulating the leachate transport from buried microplastics on the sediment bed.
(5) A foodweb exposure model, that estimates potential human health risks from fish consumption, based on MP concentration inputs from any of the above models. Initial assessments suggest that MP may pose a relevant role if humans' daily ingestion exceeds >1 mg of very small (1 µm) MP.
• Policy briefs were developed, addressing key issues such as tyre particle emissions, biodegradable polymers, plastic additives, and analytical methods for SMNP detection.
• Insights gained across the project’s various work packages informed the development of an action-oriented online course on micro- and nanoplastics in the environment.
• The Lab-on-a-chip microfluidic system was developed to sort by size and enable Raman-based identification of SSM (≤20 µm–1 µm) and NP (≤1000 nm–30 nm) in water for human consumption. This device, currently protected by a patent application, has demonstrated reliable identification of PP, PE, PET, PS, and PVC.
• SERS allowed for the detection and identification of PS and PET particles as small as 35nm.
• Use of gold-coated filters and QC-LDIR transflectance analysis for analyzing MP in biota.
• One of the biodegradation tests developed by the project employed freshwater with an increased microbial cell concentration, which resulted in faster degradation rates and a greater extent of biodegradation during the end phase compared to benchmark tests. This method is a promising starting point for the accelerated determination of polymer biodegradability and might in the future be proposed as a basis for standardization.
• The PZR was calculated for the Mediterranean basin, as a potential MSFD-GES indicator.
• SERS allowed for the detection and identification of PS and PET particles as small as 35nm.
• Use of gold-coated filters and QC-LDIR transflectance analysis for analyzing MP in biota.
• One of the biodegradation tests developed by the project employed freshwater with an increased microbial cell concentration, which resulted in faster degradation rates and a greater extent of biodegradation during the end phase compared to benchmark tests. This method is a promising starting point for the accelerated determination of polymer biodegradability and might in the future be proposed as a basis for standardization.
• The PZR was calculated for the Mediterranean basin, as a potential MSFD-GES indicator.