Descripción del proyecto
Grandes planes para reducir la presencia de microplásticos en los sedimentos de agua dulce
Tras la Edad de Piedra, la Edad del Bronce y la Edad del Hierro ahora es el turno de dar la bienvenida a la Edad del Plástico. El plástico es el material que mejor define el período actual. Se usa a diario y, por desgracia, la contaminación por plásticos está aumentando a una velocidad alarmante. Los plásticos biodegradables constituyen una alternativa ya que pueden mineralizarse en determinadas condiciones de temperatura y humedad. Cada año, más de veintiocho millones de toneladas de plásticos terminan en las masas de agua. En este contexto, el equipo del proyecto SEDIPLASTIC, financiado por las acciones Marie Skłodowska-Curie, examinará y proporcionará nuevos conocimientos sobre los efectos de los microplásticos (no biodegradables y biodegradables) en los sedimentos de agua dulce en condiciones de cambio global. Además, diseñará un modelo predictivo para mejorar la comprensión sobre cómo pueden afectar los microplásticos a los servicios ecosistémicos. Los resultados del proyecto beneficiarán tanto a la comunidad científica e investigadora como a la industria, los Gobiernos y el bienestar social.
Objetivo
We live in the “plastic age”. Plastics are key for societal innovation and used on a daily basis. However, due to their ubiquity, persistence, inadequate management & improper waste disposal, they tend to accumulate in the environment. Besides, during their life cycle, they degrade into tiny polluting bits called microplastics (MP<5mm), considered a major environmental threat. Biodegradable plastics (BioMP) have become an alternative since they can be mineralized under certain temperature and moisture conditions. Fluvial sediments and their inherent microbial communities could potentially decompose BioMP due to their role as a nutrient recycling and its high enzymatic activity. However, how the degradation of BioMP will affect nutrient re-cycles in aquatic ecosystems, an essential ecological service, is still unknown. In addition, global change, especially, rising temperature, and hydrologic extreme events, mobilize plastics in freshwater systems and further degrading them into MPs. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop tools to assess, predict and mitigate their effects on freshwater ecosystems.
SEDIPLASTIC seeks to explore and provide new knowledge on MP (non- and biodegradable) effects on freshwater sediments under global change conditions. Sediment columns with different grain size, with/without microbial communities, and microparticles (inert, MP, BioMP) will be used. Hydrological parameters, nutrients, dissolved organic carbon, bacterial biomass, viability, and functionality, and MP mobility and degradation will be analysed. Moreover, to better understand the key role of MP in freshwater sediments and how can affect ecosystems services, a predictive model will be developed using project experimental data. Project outcomes will impact beyond academia providing novel tools for industry, government, and thus societal wellbeing. It will contribute to major EU research priorities and to global efforts such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (6, 12, & 14).
Ámbito científico
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwaste managementwaste treatment processesrecycling
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturegrains and oilseeds
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystemsfreshwater ecosystems
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesenvironmental sciencespollution
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental scienceshydrologylimnology
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinador
17004 Girona
España