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Science X's Phys.org site describes a report about the harm from tire particles, which account for about a third of all microplastic contamination in the environment. Unlike other types of plastic, tire particles are smaller, have greater chemical complexity, and different behavior in ecosystems. Thus the call is for them to be placed in a new, separate enviromental category.
The study, published in the journal Environmental Research, highlights the gap in current knowledge about the environmental presence, transportation, and toxic impact of these particles. The authors have identified ten priority research questions across four key themes: environmental detection, chemical composition, biotic impacts, and regulation.
The research brought together an interdisciplinary network of experts from countries including the U.K., U.S., Norway, Australia, South Korea, Finland, Austria, China, and Canada. Their findings underscore the need for a standardized framework to quantify and manage TPs and their leachates, especially as the global presence of these contaminants rises.
A second study is being carried out on the effects from tire chemicals and particles on marine life in UK waters.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by corey on Thursday November 21, @10:07PM (1 child)
I appreciate that quote. As an engineer, my mind went straight for solutions. No tyres, or change to a biodegradeable compound. Firstly, I don't think there are any non-tyre solutions? We seem to need rubber/like material to keep wheels on the ground. Until we get flying cars viable, or a hovercraft-like device (hmm starting to think of options there..). The second option, biodegradeable. I don't know anything about tyre compound (other than soft/hard etc), I am sure the tyre companies can come up with something better. But I would think that normal tyre rubber would break down anyway. Everything does, faster if it's in very small pieces, which this is.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 22, @10:31AM
You can do a quick fermi calc of how much of this stuff there is.1
how many cars in your city : lets say a million
how many years your tyres last : lets say three years
how much rubber each tyre loses between new and bald : 3kg as a guesstimate2
-> 1,000,000 (cars) *4 (tyres/car) * 3(Kg) / 3 (years)
= ~ 4000 tonnes per year of this dust dropped on your city.3
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1. This is very rough, you can plug in much more accurate figures for your particular city.
2. 1.5m circumference * 20cm width * 1 cm tread height * guessing at a rubber density of 1
3. This also doesn't include trucks, which apparently go through way more tyres/km than cars.