Marines Mikro-/Nanoplastik: Emission, Transport, Gesundheit

Plastic pollution is increasing every year and is now recognized as a global environmental and health concern. Yet a key part of the plastic life cycle remains unresolved: how plastics move from the ocean into the atmosphere and ultimately reach humans. AERIAL tackles this missing link by investigating how micro- and nanoplastics are emitted from the ocean through sea spray, transported through the atmosphere across the globe, and inhaled by humans, where they may pose risks for health. For decades, the ocean has been regarded mainly as a sink for plastic pollution. However, the ocean surface is highly dynamic. Breaking waves continuously inject air into the water and release tiny droplets back into the atmosphere. These droplets can carry microscopic particles, including plastics. AERIAL challenges the traditional view of the ocean as a passive reservoir and explores its role as an active source that can re-emit plastic particles into the air we breathe, reshaping how scientists understand the global plastic cycle. The project brings together emission experiments, atmospheric modelling and health research within one consistent framework. In novel laboratory facilities, we reproduce ocean turbulence representative of intense wave breaking conditions to measure how plastic particles are released into the atmosphere under controlled conditions and to elucidate their physical and chemical properties. These experimentally derived results are incorporated into advanced atmospheric transport models to determine how airborne plastics disperse globally and where human populations may be exposed. This will identify hotspots of exposure in coastal and inland regions alike. In parallel, we investigate the concentrations at which inhaled plastics cause harm and whether they can act as carriers for other pollutants. AERIAL unites leading experts in hydrodynamics, turbulence physics, aerosol science, atmospheric modelling and respiratory toxicology across Viennese universities. This interdisciplinary collaboration enables close integration between experiments, modelling and health studies, ensuring that results are directly connected across all stages of the research and allowing insights from one field to immediately inform the others. As a high-risk, high-gain project, AERIAL explores uncharted scientific territory. By combining new experimental tools, state of the art global simulations and toxicological studies with real human lung cells, it will provide the first comprehensive understanding of how plastics can move from the ocean into the atmosphere and affect human health. The project will lay the foundation for a new research field on the emission, atmospheric fate and health impacts of micro- and nanoplastics and ultimately support future air-quality forecasting that is highly relevant for society and policy.