| Project Detail |
Understanding Nanoplastic behaviour in groundwater aquifers
Plastic particles are responsible for the contamination of drinking water supply wells. Nanoplastic (NP) represents a significant threat to human health. Thus, understanding NP behaviour in groundwater aquifers is pivotal. The EU-funded NaplaGro project will study the NP particle transport behaviour in complex mineral and biogeochemical groundwater settings in Europe from the lab to field scale to understand the natural complexity of aquifers. The project will address how NP shape affects transport in groundwater, whether flow rates modify NP transport in complex mineral and biogeochemical porous media settings and whether fungal communities can retain NP under realistic aquifer conditions. NaplaGro will investigate whether laboratory findings can be upscaled to field-scale studies.
Groundwater is the largest drinking water resource on earth and 75% of EU residents depend on groundwater as water supply . Plastic contamination of drinking water supply wells has recently been documented. Plastic particles are a vector for pollutants ; interfere with biogeochemical cycles and nutrient transport , while particular nanoplastic (NP) is shown to cause adverse effects on human health. Hence, drinking water contamination by NP is a serious threat to human health. To protect the Earth´s largest freshwater reservoir and guarantee a sustainable use of water resources within Europe for future generations, we need to understand NP behavior in groundwater aquifers.
In this MSC-action, I will study the transport behavior of NP particles in complex mineral and biogeochemical groundwater settings from lab- to field scale in order to embrace the natural complexity of aquifers. The following MSCA objectives address four major knowledge gaps of NP transport in groundwater systems:
i) How does NP shape affect transport in groundwater?
ii) Can flow rates modify NP transport in complex mineral and biogeochemical porous media settings?
iii) Are fungal communities able to retain NP under realistic aquifer conditions?
iv) Can findings from laboratory studies be up-scaled to field scale studies?
I will answer these objectives by conducting laboratory experiments combining nanotechnological methods with novel microfluidic chips as well as field scale experiments using a tracer injection method. With these approaches, we generate tracer breakthrough curves inferring sediment specific retention rates, while they also enable us to gain better mechanistic understanding of NP transpor in porous media. This MSCA will be a stepping-stone in understanding NP transport in groundwater environments more systematically. Such knowledge will inform the development of new environmental models to enhance the predictive capability of NP pollution in drinking water reservoirs. |
