SFB 1357:  MICROPLASTICS - Understanding the mechanisms and processes of biological effects, transport and formation: From model to complex systems as a basis for new solutions

• Subject Area: Chemistry ; Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine ; Biology ; Geosciences ; Materials Science and Engineering ; Medicine ; Physics ; Thermal Engineering/Process Engineering
• Term: since 2019
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 391977956

The ubiquitous contamination of the environment with microplastics (MP) and the associated potential risks perpetually attracts a great deal of public, political, economic, and scientific attention. However, the problem is very complex, as MP represents a very heterogeneous group of particles with a wide range of chemical and physical properties, which also constantly change due to various environmental impacts and the resulting aging processes. This can lead to altered environmental behavior as well as to different biological effects. However, due to the myriad combinations of properties that MP exhibit in the environment, the study of aging, environmental behavior and effects is a tremendous challenge and requires an interdisciplinary approach that bridges traditional academic disciplinary boundaries.The goal of SFB 1357 is therefore to gain a fundamental understanding of the processes and mechanisms that 1) condition biological effects of MP in limnetic and terrestrial ecosystems as a function of the physical and chemical properties of the particles, 2) influence the migration behavior of MP particles and 3) cause the formation of MP starting from macroscopic plastics, based on model systems for plastics, organisms, and environmental compartments. These findings provide a scientifically sound basis for assessing the environmental risks of MP, as well as for developing environmentally friendly plastics and processes to prevent the emission of MP into the environment. The complexity of the investigated model systems will be increased during the course of SFB 1357 in order to achieve the highest possible relevance with respect to real ecosystems. In the 2nd research phase, chemically more complex and realistic MP particles as well as realistic environmental model systems will be in the focus of the investigations. SFB 1357 is planned for 12 years and is divided into three strongly interconnected project areas with coherent goals. These address the understanding of the mechanisms and processes of the following areas: (A) Biological effects of chemically complex and more realistic MP particles from the molecular to the community level. (B) Behavior and migration of chemically complex and more realistic MP particles within and between the environmental compartments of freshwater, atmosphere, and soil. (C) Physical, chemical as well as biological degradation of chemically complex and realistic MP in natural and technical systems - development of new environmentally friendly plastics that do not form persistent MP particles and methods for their removal in technical systems. Due to its unique interdisciplinary focus, the SFB 1357 will make a significant contribution to answering fundamental questions and thus to the overall societal challenge of tackling the problem of MP in the environment.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres

Current projects

• A01 - Effects of microparticles on aquatic model macrofauna depending on particle properties: Comparison of microplastics to natural particles (Project Heads Fröhlich, Thomas ;  Laforsch, Christian )
• A02 - Effects of microplastic particles on model organisms of the soil-dwelling macrofauna and their associated microbiota (Project Heads Feldhaar, Heike ;  Horn, Marcus A. )
• A03 - Characterisation of molecular and histological effects of MP particles in tissue (sections) of aquatic and terrestrial model organisms (Project Heads Laforsch, Christian ;  Römpp, Andreas )
• A04 - Cellular uptake of microplastics as a function of basic particle properties (Project Heads Fery, Andreas ;  Kreß, Holger ;  Laforsch, Christian )
• A05 - Effects of microplastic interactions at the cellular level (Project Heads Freitag, Ruth ;  Scheibel, Thomas )
• A06 - Microplastics in the rhizosphere of crop plants - effect on physical, chemical and microbial processes in soil (Project Heads Lehndorff, Eva ;  Lüders, Tillmann )
• B01 - Physico-chemical mechanisms of interactions on and with microplastic particles in aqueous solution (Project Heads Papastavrou, Georg ;  Peiffer, Stefan ;  Senker, Jürgen )
• B02 - Transport behaviour of microplastics in lentic systems: Influence of hydrodynamic conditions and aggregation on microplastic residence times and spatial distribution patterns of microplastics (Project Heads Aizinger, Vadym ;  Fleckenstein, Jan ;  Gilfedder, Ph.D., Benjamin Silas ;  Obst, Martin )
• B03 - Behaviour of microplastics in the running water/hyporheic zone system (Project Heads Fleckenstein, Jan ;  Frei, Sven ;  Gilfedder, Ph.D., Benjamin Silas )
• B05 - Behaviour and effect of microplastics in the land surface-atmosphere system (Project Heads Held, Andreas B. ;  Nölscher, Anke ;  Thomas, Christoph )
• B06 - Behaviour and transport of microplastics in disturbed and undisturbed soils (Project Heads Bogner, Christina ;  Carminati, Andrea ;  Gekle, Stephan ;  Löder, Martin )
• C01 - Formation and degradation of microplastics under simulated environmental conditions: Mechanical and UV stress (Project Heads Altstädt, Volker ;  Ruckdäschel, Holger ;  Senker, Jürgen ;  Strohriegl, Peter )
• C02 - Degradation of biodegradable polymers and their clay nanocomposites under environmentally relevant conditions (Project Heads Agarwal, Seema ;  Breu, Josef )
• C03 - Enzymatic degradation of synthetic polymers (Project Heads Höcker, Birte ;  Ullmann, Matthias )
• C06 - Enzymatically induced fragmentation of weathered polyolefin microparticles (Project Heads Greiner, Andreas ;  Möglich, Andreas )
• S01 - Predicting the toxicity and estimating the environmental risk of microplastic particles based on their properties (Project Heads Mair, Magdalena ;  Ruckdäschel, Holger )
• Z01 - Microplastic particle production and analysis (Project Heads Agarwal, Seema ;  Löder, Martin ;  Strohriegl, Peter )
• Z02 - Genomics and Bioinformatics (Project Head Weig, Alfons )
• Z03 - Central administration project (Project Head Laforsch, Christian )
• Ö01 - Public relations work of the CRC 1357 (Project Head Laforsch, Christian )

Completed projects

• B04 - Particle exchange at the air-water interface (Project Heads Gekle, Stephan ;  Held, Andreas B. )
• C04 - Impact of microbial diversity and biofilm formation on degradation mechanisms of microplastic particles in the environment (Project Heads Horn, Marcus A. ;  Obst, Martin ;  Rambold, Gerhard )
• C05 - Degradation and behaviour of plastics and microplastic particles in technical systems of water and waste management (Project Heads Freitag, Ruth ;  Greiner, Andreas )

• Applicant Institution: Universität Bayreuth
• Participating University: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; Universität zu Köln
• Participating Institution: Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung - UFZ; Themenbereich Wasserressourcen und Umwelt; Department Hydrogeologie; Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V. (IPF)
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Christian Laforsch