Transfer through air bubble bursting of micro and nanoplastics from the ocean to the atmosphere – Bubbleplast

In the marine environment, macroplastic wastes undergo chemical and physical modifications leading to their fragmentation into microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs). Additional MPs and potentially NPs enter the Oceans via rivers and atmospheric deposition. To date, the fate of ocean plastic debris is far to be understood and this is especially true when it comes to small MPs and NPs. Besides, the established presence of MPs in the atmospheric compartment, found in urbanized areas but also in remote locations, and the potential presence of NPs are of growing concern. These plastic particles can influence the Earth’s climate and degrade air quality.
A transfer of plastic particles from the oceans to the atmosphere has recently been hypothesized. Literature strongly suggests this sea-to-air transfer of MPs/NPs processes similarly as for the generation of primary marine aerosols (sea spray aerosols) i.e., via the bursting of air bubbles plumes at the ocean’s surface. Nevertheless, the magnitude and significance of this phenomenon for both the marine and atmospheric compartments are still controversial. In this project, we hypothesize these marine MPs and NPs emissions are significant at the global scale and contribute to marine dispersal of MPs and NPs to remote ocean regions, and to terrestrial and cryospheric parts of the Earth system. We propose an innovative and complementary approach to address two objectives: 1. assess the water-to-air transfer of MPs and NPs particles and their co-contaminants via bubble bursting as a function of environmental parameters and plastic particle properties using laboratory experiments, 2. improve ocean and atmosphere models of MPs and NPs, and their coupling, to understand MPs/NPs transport and cycling.