A new review article published in the Journal of Environmental Management summarizes the current state of knowledge on the occurrence of tire wear particles and the release of pollutants in aquatic ecosystems. The researchers warn of the toxic effects on aquatic organisms and associated ecological consequences.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/32367927

Tire wear particles enter rivers and lakes primarily via wind and rain. These particles account for 50% to 90% of all microplastics that run off roads during rainfall. Furthermore, scientific extrapolations suggest that nearly half (45%) of the microplastics found in soil and water come from tire abrasion.

The concentration of tire wear particles in water bodies can vary by several orders of magnitude, ranging from 0,00001 to 10.000 milligrams per liter.

The particles contain a complex mixture of different compounds, including toxic substances: heavy metals such as cadmium and zinc and organic substances such as the ozone protection or antioxidant 6-PPD. If the tire wear particles end up in freshwater ecosystems, the pollutants are leached out there.

  • antlion@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    7·
    1 day ago

    We need to regulate vehicles by mass, which is directly proportional to the tires. Pay $0.10 per pound of vehicle annually.

    • grue@lemmy.worldOPMEnglish
      2·
      13 hours ago

      I’m not sure about tire wear, but fun fact: road wear and tear is proportional to vehicle mass raised to the fourth power. If road users were taxed fairly for that and cyclists with average-weight bikes were made to pay 1¢, drivers of average-sized sedans would need to pay millions of dollars.

      (That’s my go-to response when idiots start talking about bicycle license plates or “cyclists need to pay their fair share,” BTW.)

      Considering how thin bike tires are compared to car tires and how long they last nonetheless (unless you’re doing skid-stops all the time), it seems plausible that the same weight4 relationship might apply, which means tire-abrasion microplastics from bicycles would be relatively negligible, compared to ones from cars.

      Of course, rail is the real winner in this instance, since it doesn’t have this problem to begin with.